North Spain

Santiago de Compostella - Leon - Burgos - Bilbao - Pamplona - San Sebastian

Egumom (hello in Euskadi/Basque),

Santiago de Compostella (in Gallicia, north west of Spain) is the destination for people all over the world who do a pilgrimage to see the tomb of St James in the Cathedral situated there. Known as the "Camino de Santiago", People would walk, cycle or horse ride at least 100km from different trails across France, Spain and Portugal. Even George Bush’s daughter has just started the Camino, from a place called Astorgas (which I went through the day she left so I just missed her).

Anyway the mass in the cathedral is more like a show than a sermon. TV screens and speakers are located around the interior of the cathedral. At the end of the mass a huge incense burner called a botafumeria is lit and is hung on a big rope dangling from the domed ceiling. Acolytes would then swing the botafumeria back and forth over people’s heads spreading incense everywhere. Afterwards people would cheer and clap! Even the Bishop on stage took photographs while it was swinging!

Next place I ended up in was Leon. Leon has a cathedral and that’s about it. Though the streets are big and people are very friendly there. The cathedral itself is quite impressive too, with 1800sq metres of stained glass windows lighting up the place.

Went to Burgos next. Guess what is there? Yep. Another cathedral! Not as nice as Leon though, but I only went here because I couldn’t get to the Picos de Europa national park as I was planning to due to no public transport.

The weirdest thing happened in Burgos. I was at a cafe when a crazy looking old woman came up to the table next to me where a couple were sitting and she asked the guy to come with her somewhere. For some reason he obeyed, and ended up walking her to the end of the street and around the corner where he didn’t come back for about 5 minutes, in the meantime me and his girlfriend were exchanging bewildered and amused looks. Never did find out what that was about.

I was disappointed in Bilbao (sorry John), it is quite an ugly industrial city, its only salvation is the brilliantly designed Guggenheim museum, which is a metallic modern work of art cross between a fish and a ship.

Pamplona is famous for the San Fermin Festival, with the running of the bulls and the fiestas they have there. Pamplona otherwise is a nice little town with lots of bars and gardens. People from the Navarra area (Pamplona) are really friendly and pleasant to talk to, though they don’t look Spanish, more half Spanish half French.

San Sebastian is awesome! (Jenny you are so right!)

San Sebastian has some really great beaches, spectacular views in the mountains around it, and the nightlife - let’s just say my average time arriving back home from partying was 5am (for 4 nights in a row, despite my insistence that the next night will be "my short quiet night")! Bars next to bars next to bars, and the whole place parties on EVERY night of the week! Pinxos (Tapas) and Sangria are great quality but pricey.

Stayed in a place called "Pension Aussie". Met a lot of Canadians there.

My next destination is somewhere in France. Not quite sure where yet, I will decide once I cross the border where I want to go (either tomorrow or the day after). And this time I mean it when I say I will have a quite night in San Sebastian....

So, some things about Spain:

· I have to stop saying "oh my god" or "holy crap" when I see something cool in a cathedral/church.

· With all the siestas, fiestas and closed weekends, do Spanish people actually ever work? I wonder how they actually make money?

· When one person honks his or her car horn, everyone else decides to join in. Soon everyone in the street is holding his or her car horns down like a choir or orchestra warming up before a performance. Quite amusing actually.

· Some girls insist on wearing the ¨Michael Jackson 80s look¨ with the leather and metal studs, and 80s style makeup/hair. Scary.

· It’s cheaper to buy beer or wine than soft drinks.

· There is a Plaza de Espana in every major town in Spain.

· In Madrid there is a series of bars called ¨Museu de Jamon¨(museum of ham), with looks like a slaughterhouse with the number of hams hanging around the place.

· Spain has a thing called Plato Combinados, which are meals based on a selection of eggs, hams, chips, sausages, rice, salads, etc, for roughly 5-8 euros. Good stuff!

· Even better are the Menu de dias, (menu of the day) which consists of two full dishes of food, bread rolls, a desert, and a choice of a bottle of wine, soft drink or water. For 6-12 euros it is a bargain, and will fill you up for the rest of the day!

· Free tapas only seem to exist in Granada, though in places mainly north of Spain you can get a discounted price on a tapa if you order a drink with it (the price works almost like getting a free drink with a tapa). Very nice!


Spain in a Nutshell

Spain is what I would describe as "a feast for the senses" in that it has beautiful countryside of mountains, gorges, valleys etc, great music, exquisite variety of foods....And Spanish people know how to party! It is usual for them to start at midnight and go all the way to 7am!

However, Spanish people can tend to be rude when they can’t understand you so it’s essential to learn Spanish especially as most people in Spain can’t speak English. People from Basque and Catalunya are nicer than anywhere else in Spain.

Favourite places: Salamanca, Seville, Barcelona, Monserrat, San Sebastian

Worst places: Madrid, Bilbao

Places with best views: Monserrat, San Sebastian

Best meal: Large paella, roast chicken, chips, bread, bottle of wine, custard desert (Menu de dia) - for 7 euros! (Zaragoza)

Worst meal: Cannelloni that had been microwaved from frozen packet - for 5 euros! (Segovia)

Best nightlife: Madrid, Salamanca, San Sebastian

Best beach: San Sebastian

Best building/monument: Plaza de Espana (Seville)

Overrated tourist attraction: Toledo

Underrated Gem: Plaza de Espana (Seville)

Cool people met:
Christian and Ashton (Canadians met in Seville YHA)
Helena (Spanish girl from Pamplona on Barcelona-Zaragoza bus)
Xavier (French dude in Zaragoza YHA - Kleptomaniac and ex heroin addict, but nice guy)
Mike and Jamison (Canadians met in Madrid YHA)
Catharine (Fun Quebec girl met in Madrid YHA and Salamanca)
Carolina (Brazilian girl met in Madrid YHA)
Marie (Spanish girl from Pamplona on Pamplona-San Sebastian bus)
Simon and Georgie (Australians met in San Sebastian pub)
Inga (German girl from Cologne met in San Sebastian pub)
Christina (Canadian girl met in San Sebastian YHA, great fun and just as nerdy as me)
Erin (Canadian girl met in San Sebastian YHA)

Funniest moment(s):
-Badly coordinated group efforts to climb and steal oranges from trees in broad daylight (Seville)
-Me and Christian getting on Spanish TV by climbing a lamp post while drunk (Seville)
-Guy talking in sleep saying "si, si" and "por favor" - wonder what he was dreaming about? (Madrid)
-Defying the despots in Madrid YHA: "They say we have to all be back by 1:30am! We say, screw them, we all come back at 4am!" *Everyone cheers* (Madrid)
-Mixing drinks for people out of a plastic bag in middle of street (Salamanca)
-Catharine in general (especially when drunk)
-People clapping and cheering in church (Santiago de Compostella)
-Old woman walking off with someone’s boyfriend (Burgos)
-Learning Euskadi from the girls at the tourist info office (Pamplona)
-Me and Christina crashing a wedding afterparty and being the only people dancing on the dance floor (San Sebastian)

Foods tried: (I LOVE SPANISH FOOD) Paella, assorted Tapas, assorted Jamon (serrado, iberico, asado), Tortilla de patatas etc, assorted Bocadillos.

Beverages tried: Estrella Dam, San Miguel, Aguila & Amstel beers, Sangria, wines

Spanish Music: (I LOVE SPANISH MUSIC, its dorky and daggy and tacky but then so am I! - must download from internet when I get home)
"Dargostea din tei" - Ozone (actually Romanian but all the rage in Europe)
"Papi Chulo" – Lorna (actually Italian)
"Soy lo que me das" - Chenoa
"Lola" - Bebe
"Oye el Boom" - Dabid Bisbal

Other cultural experiences: Bull Fight (Madrid), Spontaneous flamenco (Seville), Spanish fiestas/festivals (Seville), late night partying

Best thing about Spain: Food, music, countryside, parties...

Worst thing about Spain: Siestas meaning everything is closed in the middle of the day and on sundays! Rude people.