brad

time for thoughts

I’ve been scraping to keep up with travel notes, failing miserably in my intention to jot down interesting thoughts, dialogues & patterns which are a big part of who I am & what I’m doing. Time to improve this even if other details have to take a cut. I’ll also make these public and hope for constructive feedback.

Alhambra: more than a beer.

My Thursday at the Alhambra was awesome and I have some new photos which don’t go close to doing it justice.

What a great spot, sitting on a wall between the the Alcazaba towers! Looking at a watch-tower & uncovered ruins here and overlooking both the Albaycin & Granada. If this city had some parks & grass, it’d be ideal.
Carl & I had arranged to meet this morning at 8am (those who have spent a while in Spain will recognise how drastically early this is) to get here for the 8:30 opening and buy tickets, since the Internet ones were unavailable (sold out?) I’d joyfully announced sunshine for at least the next 5 days, so was rather shocked when I saw it was pouring at 7:45. Faith prevailed & I decided the rain was to scare off the hordes. The rain stopped as we walked here, we queued max 30 mins for tickets & scored a 9:30 entry to the moorish palace (Palacios Nazar�es). (You can stay as long as you like, but entry is controlled via 1/2hr slots.) It is stunning. Go here!
I have loads of photos and am super enthusiastic about some. Can’t wait to see them large. The weather helped. As it was fining up, blue skies and morning shaded sun gave soft light and limited the contrast between light & shade. Now some detail is impossible to photo. Come here and see it for yourself!
Now that I’ve photoed the Albaycin, I need the sun to get over to the afternoon side so I can photo back at Carlos V’s palace. I have time and Spanish vocab to learn, so why not chill out on a lookout tower in the sun & watch the tourists go by.
Continued: 15:30 got the photo, the difference is enourmous- well worth the wait. Went to all the bits I hadn’t seen yet & headed along the Partal garden & across to the Generalife palace & gardens. Very nice. The tourists had found a litter of kittens and were gawping & picking them up. Hopefully they didn’t scare off the mum. This was a very long day but I recommend taking your time, letting the tour groups & tourists overtake you and being alert to the special moment, like the cat going fishing. If you are a photographer, bring extra batteries & film/memory. I only saw 1 other guy going at my pace & we bumped into each other one last time back in town ~18:00 and shared big grins.
Bumped into Anna on the way back- she & Anastasia have taken the 2 room flat from the advert I showed her. Cool! Wearing my Wallaby rugby shirt, I managed to laugh with the Kiwi in All Black atire without mentioning the World Cup semi-final. Granada is an international city. Siestad & met the school people for a Tapas. They all piked early, but Fabian (Anastasia’s 1/2 Spanish brother-in-law) & I headed to Eshelvira for a few. Yet another nice interesting guy.

More Granada Diary Entries

So, the TravelDiary is uptodate and I’ve posted more photos like this one here, although I need a nice way of linking that rather than the quick hack I just did. Anyway, enjoy

9.4.04 4:41 caught in a storm
Calls from Rimini were loud, but very cool. “Hey Jumpi, can you turn the volume down, I can’t hear!” ( Carsten (Andrea, Arcadio) & Gunter). Before that Anna and I grabbed a Tapas and did a couple chores. Went looking to leave Mark a note and found out where Lady B (my landlord/landlady) lives. Comic scene.
I headed out to meet Jakub and bumped into Tuure heading to Rosa’s last night bash. Hallelujah, I finally remembered his name! He didn’t use tent. Jakub eventually found us after numerous confusing phone conversations and amazingly simple directions. Good night. Met Vanessa and a couple more Finns. All nice folks. Headed up to the Albaycin meaning Rosa and I got caught in a downpour on the long way home.

10.4.04 11:54 park bench
Sitting in parque gracia lorca letting the sun warm me. Some rain clouds passing through, colder and windier, but sunny. One ear is listening to local radio (admitedly not understanding much, but having caught Rwanda, Nelson Mandela, Burkina Faso(sp?) & radical islamists…thats not surprising), the other hearing a bubbling fountain, traffic, jogger’s footsteps & the odd kid.when radio is quiet I hear birds chirping. Its not a good city for running. Best option probably to bike out to a better spot. Time to do some more Spanish.

13.4.04 19:45 birds of prey are impressive
Late last night another resident moved in (carl from leeds) without warning & today 2 danes for 4 days. (they lived here a year ago). Before that Ari, Tiina, Jakub and I watched the sunset from Mirador san Nicolas & I got a serious craving to juggle while watching some decent club passing. Took quite a few nice twilight photos (we were a little late). Afterwards stopped past Nadia’s & tereza’s place & met them in bar. Vicky working here, so the two similar looking bars must be same owner. Bailed kinda early & processed Granada photos & panoramas on computer.
School today hit the past tense which I was only vaguely familiar with. Pretty simple but lots of irregular verbs. Mari good for Patatas Bravas Friday. Horse riding didn’t work out as planned since horse injured. Got to know Carl a bit & watched a pretty cool documentary on using birds of prey to hunt. Not just falcons, somewhere they had huge proud eagle-like birds…I thought they said Slovak, but not sure. These things were easily pulling down hares (big eared rabits).

14.4.04 10:52 Another sunset, intense kid and more Czech
Last night got late: finished homework after 3. A somewhat earlier sunset trip followed by Tapas got Czeched. I’m getting used to it.
Ari, Tiina and I had to repeat the sunset photos, although this time I wasn’t really in a photo mood so only took one and then found some clubs to borrow. A Spanish girl must have recognised that I knew how to juggle clubs once-upon-a-time despite lack of recent practice and despite concentrated studying on her part and my spanish failed to tell her anything useful. During this time some way too intense ~10yr old kid decided to impress us (her) with his abilities and became a nuisance. I gave up on the relaxing juggle concept. Apparently the kid then went on to share a joint with the ecclectic group of drummers and musicians that hang around here. Hard to explain… he thinks he’s an adult, but does adult things like a kid. His adult role-models seemed to think he’s funny to have around. That kid is on a knife edge if he hasn’t already fallen off it. I don’t think he’ll fall the right side, but hope he somehow does.
After sunset, Melanie didn’t find Jakub & I in the bar in the little alley by Pl Nueve which serves good fish tapas. Hung out there a while before meeting tereza, Nadia & Josh (NY tribe, translator). A little bit out of the way, but I liked this bar. Eventually we tried the neighbouring disco which was lame, so moved to an Irish bar where nobody was drinking Irish drinks. Don’t think the homework quality improved…maybe I should try writing it in the bars?

18.4.04 14:24 Last few days and useless information
Wow haven’t written for ages. Been doing more spanish and listening to telly. Bought fitaly so I can write faster: or think I did…hope the credit card works this time (edit: it didn’t???).
Wed afternoon was ulti time. I thought it would hurt on concrete and it did. No point even thinking about laying out (diving). Ultimate followed by a beer with Tapa works for me. Nice people & I spoke as much spanish as I could. No time for sleep…at 7 Melanie, Anastasia & I watched a spanish film at the school, before joining Jakub’s last night. Big crew of nice people, but its a problem that nobody was spanish. The whole Finnish crew turned out & the usual Czechs. Sanity prevailed (Ultimate tiredness helped) & I turned in at a reasonable hour. As it turned out J missed his bus to Barcelona & therefore his flight. Looking forward to hearing the full story, nobody seems to know it.
Thursday knee pain and guilt saw me behind a desk studying for hours. How dull for a travel diary. As homework we were supposed to write something about a famous person with our nationality. I don’t know enough for even a small biography on most famous Australians so I went with the weirdness angle. Why did we turn Ned Kelly into a legend? How many countries had a prime minister disappear? (Harold Holt while swimming) How many countries had a prime minister with a world record in beer drinking? (Bob Hawke while on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford). It was fun.
Friday was my last day in class. Last few days learnt perfect & past tense. Loads of irregular verbs. Evenings, the plan was to meet teacher Mari and students for a Patatas Bravas. New Plan. She didn’t turn up and the place looked uninviting so we (Anasasia, Anna, Mark, Melanie) bolted to an old Tapas Bar whose name I have again forgotten. SMSs let us find out that Mari had an ear infection and wasn’t up for it. So German was spoken until Oscar rocked up and they switched to English. We (-Anna and Mark) headed uphill to Sacromonte for a bit of Flamenco in a cave-bar. One guy losing his voice singing while another played guitar and a few clapped. Seen better. The ~10yr old kid we saw sharing a joint at Mirador de san Nicolas showed up around 2 in the morning. Scary.
Saturday morning I bumped into Melanie and Anna as I was walking in the wrong direction to the market that wasn’t on my map. They knew where it was so I turned around. Kind of cool, better for the ladies although I now have 3 more socks. You can never have too many socks. I thought I’d be wearing sandals more often - apparently this is the coldest Spring in 40 years. Which explains the lack of beach visits.
Afterwards I made it to Ultimate at 5, with no intention of playing since my knee hadn’t settled down. Unfortunately they were only 5 and I figured I’d survive if I simply didn’t cut off my right leg. So why did I suggest they play “box” and learn give-and-gos, close passes and the like with heaps of cutting? I poached as much as I could. Chicho and I grabbed a beer afterwards and switched to Spanish. The people here try much harder to help people learn the language and to understand beginners than I ever saw in Germany. Something to like. A lot.
I admit to falling asleep in front of the telly. Soccer was on.

19.4.04 1:39 sunday
Interesting Sunday. Body took over & insisted on 12 hrs in bed. Luxury. Ari back so we grabbed a bocadillo & tapa sitting in the sun around the corner. Good fun.
Walked along river & then up to Alhambra from the Realejo side. Bush just below main entrance full of life: watched the finches for a bit. Walked up & left at the carparks to get above the alhambra. Watched a squirrel zip across the path & up a tree. Up at Sillas ?Moras? (need to check that name) : it looks like a restoration project but empty on Sunday…except for those jumping the fence. Really nice view from here & beautifully quiet. Took some photos & checked the site out. Back on the path I tried to find a path towards Sacromonte/Albaycin. I don’t think their is one. Truth be told I got hopelessly lost. I found different paths across the slope & scuried down to the next one, but despite a few goes I couldn’t see a way all the way down. Eventually I couldn’t find how to walk back up either. I ended up doing some climbing that I was totally unprepared for and it got a little hairy before I got back to the path at Sillas.
I picked up my laptop to search for a place that’d let me jump on their LAN. Amazingly enough my spanish sufficed to get me a ”no can’t do that here” and a “I can’t tell you where to go, but there is a place on st x”. And there was. Its a bit more expensive, but hey. Took a while getting the network card reinstalled & functioning at this place, but got there eventually. The guy was cool, understood enough of my spanish, laughed at my approaching antique laptop & gave me some free time.
After a long session, met Carl & the finnish crew at Meson Genil (around the corner - Genil is the name of the river: just like in Munich here I’m on a 5th floor near the river), with a few drinks at our place afterwards while we checked out photos.

19.4.04 14:30 quotes
I like quotes. In addition to questions like: “You’ve moved to Spain???” or “Holidaying in Spain?” I’ve recently received these quotables.
Big Miq: “REmember that spanish girls are really sexy and dangerous, you fall in love and when you weak up you are married with two beautidoul kids. ji,ji.”
Apple: “What about you? Have you gotten any beautiful Spaniards pregnant yet?”
Hayden: “so granada to learn spanish? nice plan. too damn long in germany if you ask me much.”
Tio Doug: “If you want to impress the ladies:
Que cara linda! …
Hola querida, quieres tomar un cafe conmigo?…
Mi amor! Sabias que jugadores de Ultimate tienen manos fuertas?…”
Jim: ‘Who are anize? There is no link on the homepage which says “Anize is …”. I guess it’s a “need to know” basis.’
Anon (I’m not sure if she was kidding): “Bei mir ist alles im gr�nen Bereich - habe nur viel Arbeit - aber besser als keine grins” which loosely translates to something like “everything’s ok my way - just have too much work - but thats better than none grins”. I do not need to state for the record that too much work is NOT better than my current ‘unemployment’.

20.4.04 11:07 tios
Hi Doug!
last night I met some tios. A football team would you believe…but a football team that sings flamenco. The score was predictable: Spanish men 7-Czech women 3. +1 Australian. The original plan was Alhambra by night, but its shut Mondays. Anna & Melanie bailed & missed out. A little later we’re sitting in the basement with cool acoustics at ‘eshevira’ and these guys are clapping & singing and shouting ‘Ol�’. They’re better than what we heard on Friday night in Sacromonte. In between, Irena(sp?) was turning out Czech folk songs. I declined a rendition of Australian folk since the Walzing Matilda tradition just can’t cut this mustard. eh Rolf Harris? After that we went-a-dancing where these guys moved it. Nice, non-macho & spoke spanish patiently all night: definitely tios. I keep telling my story and getting looks saying ‘that can’t possibly be what he meant’. I have to get used to BMW sounding different in a 3rd language. Don’t like ‘w’s anymore.

20.4.04 15:13 marvelous words
Otra cerveza por favor
in the sun
with tapas
studying Spanish
life in a Haiku

20.4.04 18:42 Ouch
Ari just walked in a few minutes after he left to go biking behind the Alhambra. Riding across a green light, a little girl stepped away from her waiting parents into the road and he must have gone arse over tit. Some scrapes, a broken watch, slightly damaged bike and a bleeding kid, but no serious damage. Score a 7.8 with a 4.5 degree difficulty.

21.4.04 20:20 Sierra Nevada
Went out to the Sierra Nevada today. Tuure and his Finnish mates piked after a heavy night, but Maria, Marja and her dad hopped on the 10. Not quite the size of ski-resort I’ve gotten used to and down to the bare bones of snow - Karl-Eric would be landing bare bones on gravel here. I’d thought a bit of hiking would be possible, but not really the landscape for it. So we had a few beers and enjoyed the sunshine - in which you didn’t need a tshirt. Except when this old guy runs out and tells you “this isn’t the beach”, which apparently means put your shirt on, sit at the table respectably and look like an advert so the 3 skiers still around might come here for food and drink.
Got back quite early and been showing Ari various photos. Time to get to Internet and send some eMails off.

useful site

This looks like a useful way of keeping up on numerous blogs / news sources. I haven�t looked too closely yet, but possibly interesting for other anizers.
http://www.bloglines.com

Thanks Jim for the heads-up.

Ctrl-C Ctrl-V

Old travel entries now posted. Lots to read.

Laptop online!

An exciting milestone - watch this space. Of course… I’m not actually organised to use it right this second ;)

A simple Wednesday

I�m squeaking in another message before DFC gets around to terminating the blog for occasional correct use of the english language ;)

I need to reiterate that Ultimate on concrete is a bad idea. Once upon a time I had a new disc from Barcelona. I thought I�d been cruel to it, golfing on Tenerife�s Volcano in February, but its now officially a road-disc. As for my joints, lets just say they were not made out for this kinda shock treatment. It was still fun to play with a bunch of beginners 4-on-4 on a small field and let the chaos unfold. I�m surprised and pleased I managed to remember some names (probably wrongly), so I�m going to get them written down: Chicho (Ricardo), Josh, B??? & Antonio vs Amelia, Fanta, Ben & I. I don�t think we would have won if we�d bother keeping count. I think Fanta enjoyed getting the hang of defence. Gotta get these guys down to the beach and laying out. I�ve been roped in to playing Spanish nationals in Madrid in May. Thats gonna be different. Takes me back to my humble beginnings at UWA. Perth, WA is now bidding to host the world championship for clubs in 2006!

Chicho looked even more tired than I felt after his bedtime of 04:30. If you arrive at a language class after 4 hours sleep, you will say “�qu�?” a lot. I felt like Manuel from Fawlty Towers. I thought it was time to try out some of the school�s non-alcoholic culture program, but “La Flor de mi secreto” was really not for me. If you read this, you�ll understand more of the film then I did last night.

Afterwards we hit the bars (I understand how to do this) and we farewelled my new Czech friend Jakub, who would currently be on his way to Barcelona and then on to work in Frankfurt tomorrow. Sorry to see him go, fun guy. Happy travels.

Last day of classes for me tomorrow, gotta decide what to do next.

Oh yeah, time for a BLOG

This entry is gonna be a bit of randomness, spawned out from a school computer before I go do lunch. I figure I better make use of anize readers “hey who�s this new bloke anyway?” moment and get something down here. I�ve been following Volker�s travels happily, but just took a look at some recent entries to get a feel for content and excuse the gratuitous flattery, but you seem to be some pretty cool guys. TMO - bugger about the knee! get better soon. A guy I played with in Munich just did his ACL, meniscus and one of the other ones too (maybe a cruciate ligament) training one week before indoors nationals. Apparently he tried to keep a foot in - they still called him out. Ouch! Yes, guilty I too play Ultimate. Or would do if Granada actually had anything resembling grass or a beach. Actually, they�ve just started playing here on concrete, and I�d be mad enough to join them if they hadn�t stopped over Easter holidays.

Ok, getting through facts, I play Ultimate and am in Granada. DFC mentioned I�m from Down Under (grew up and studied in Perth) and Munich was my most recent residence - a backpacking trip turned up a job offer in Munich which I thought would be cool for 6 months. 6 turned into 60 but now itchy feet have taken over again. I�ll probably blog about this background at some point. Its a few long stories.

That may explain why I don�t write American. Anize excepted this is gonna be an “ise” and colour zone.

I found my way to Anize via Volker, but how did I find Volker? Good Story. We were quite joyful (ie. drunk) on a beach in Italy (Post paganello finals 2001) and trying to get out to a party at a country lodge, somewhere near Bologna. Nobody in the car we got a ride in knew anybody else. I don�t really remember the start of the conversation, but we ended up getting a really cool philosophical yarn going and by the time we�d sobered up enough to appreciate it, we were mates. Volker - I�m thinking about letting the orange photos get a wider audience here - any objections?

Back to the present: some of you guys have got to have experience with this kind of thing, any tips welcome. I�ve got an old win98 laptop with me: minus WLAN or floppy drive, but with modem and network card. I�ve got CompactFlash cards with a PCMCIA adaptor. I do most of my writing on a Palm T3 (Bluetooth, no WLAN, no SD card). Here flats don�t even have telephone lines, so the modem is useless. I�m yet to see a Internet Cafe advertising WLAN. I�m umming and ahhing how to get connected. Getting the floppy drive sent to me is so 80s, but maybe the best solution for Spain. I can�t imagine places happily letting me jump on their Ethernet and there�s no pt getting WLAN if they aint got it. right?

right stomach calls.

hasta pronto

New Blog

Hats off to DFC for his hospitality setting me up here on the site. I�m looking forward to a good time here. Thanx to Volker for taking the initiative and asking for me from South America. I�ll play a bit with the setup in the next few days as time allows before getting a proper blog going. I�ll introduce myself properly then.

Old Travel Diary Entries

OK… I’m sure its possible but I don’t see how to edit the dates of entries to backdate, in the 20 seconds I allocated, so I’ve just killed DFC’s testing entry and copy some stuff here… no complaints about formatting or editing ok?

Posted 18.04.2004
and Damn… I just saw how to backdate :)

29.3.04 15:31 malaga-granada
Wow: what a start! after some stressing and very little sleep recently, I caught the 06:15 Ubahn and everything went smoothly until landing. Cute hostess and brekky edible. Aisle seat (41C) in 757. guy at window looked kinda spanish, but brief chat suggested more mid-east origin-flew via Stuttgart???. First thing on entering terminal: Movistar! It took 75 minutes to get my bag: a personal record. The whole plane waited, the first bags started coming after maybe 40 mins by which time 2 flights worth from England were queuing right on the conveyor. At bus stop, 1st bus to Marbella - a guy from a direct Stuttgart flight says previous Malaga bus never came. When next one is late, German Justin grabbed us to get a taxi(Carsten, Saarland, studies in Wurzburg). Chaos due to flooding, rockslides and bad/closed roads. Queue. �6 taxi, bus turned out quicker (the road had been closed but busses could now go through) and �1. oh well. Malaga full of Eucalypts: seems universal after Valencia and Canaries. The 2 guys are visiting girlfriends in Granada, so I take the easy ‘flow’ option and let them get me there. J lived a while in Malaga and recommends it. C raved about cheaper alcohol (�3 a bottle???) and habit of ”botelon’(sp?)’, where between Tapas and clubbing groups go buy drinks from the shops and street drink. Bus left straight away, �8.06. Lots of flowing water. Saw from plane that rivers are very brown. All gullys have waterfalls. 60kms from Granada hills’ geology resembles scottish highlands, but valleys have orange brown soil and citrus tree groves. Sometimes stony ground, sometimes soil- occasionally lush green ad some yellow flowers. The taxi driver had tried selling us on a �130 ride to granada-HA! no prob with the bus. J has my mob no. can call for tapas. Rebekka met C a little after we arrived, very friendly. bus to her place, she’ll show me a hostal or somesuch.

29.3.04 18:39 hostal sorted
After soup and a drink at rebecca (to the translator who won’t speak English’s singing) walked towards the centre (uphill all the way). Wasn’t interested in a hostel by the train station away from the centre. First stop a hit, �16 a night for a single (two beds though) with bath in hall. Bed where I write this is too short, but one with headboard ok, mattress seems good. Rockfall/birds on roof weirdly loud, but hey, thats what I got new ear-plugs for. Guy so chilled, he hasn’t taken my details or money: ”later”. location: just off NE corner of Plaza de Los Lobos on Fabrica Vieja.
Resting up a little, then will go walkies. A bit of a look around, a little to eat I think. Maybe find a English-Spanish pocket dictionary and an Internet place to register arrival. A wi-fi card would come in useful now. Will see what setup they have here. (addendum only took a few weeks :) )
oh yeah- weather not quite of spanish fame. mainly dry with often ominous looking clowds. few blue patches, but blue seems darker than in Munich Drizzled/rained during walk.
Brushing pack on white walls means wiping the plaster off your bag.

29.3.04 21:46 granada
Loads of Snow on the very nearby Sierra Nevada mountains. A bit cooler than Malaga.
Late afternoon, early evening look-around in full traveller mode, the senses sucking in the sights (trees with early leaves (unlike Munich), mountains and Alhambra backdrop, citrus trees, quaint specialist shops, PEOPLE (not just, but including tight jeans), sounds (running water, birds (looking up maybe sparrows?) chirping spring chirps, spaniards: persuasively convincing a friend on who knows what (their homework?); making a date on a mobile phone or gossiping, foreigners: loud, happy and numerous in the early evening) and smells (perfumes, quiet alleys and plazzas clean and fresh; large main roads of motorcycles). Did I just imagine it or did that blonde lady smile at the recognition of my wide-eyed, ”I’m new here” look? Suck it up. Kerouac would have written ”dig it”. Who cares that its raining? Saving photography for better weather.
By all rights I should be exhausted. Didn’t find suitable bookstore. Internet 30 min 90c,later saw better places. O2 roaming prices reasonably similar for all nets. Should print at some point. Phone going with Telefonica Movistar unless I change it. Time to do a bit of spanish: probably hear from others soon???

30.3.04 16:03 Exploring and Spanish schools
Didn’t hit the town last night (no great surprise, but it was their suggestion) due to tiredness and prob gf uni. Their turn to contact me. As always, Spanish siesta and eating times needs some adjusting. Its easy and convenient when you have a home to break and eat supper at. Not the best for solo backpacking and info gathering. 8 hours sleep was bliss. Took my time getting going this morning. Stroll (uphill) through the Albaycin (an old suburb in the centre overlooking modern granada. Many streets have steps and cannot be driven. Lots of courtyards and roof gardens) took me straight to the spanish school I most liked the look of from Munich. (I had written down the website but not the address, otherwise I would have been looking for it). Seemed welcoming enough so I got infos and read it in the sun (cold when it is behind clouds), while listening to the students during their break and getting the vibe of the place. Lots of English and German - majority younger than me. Still no map showing Post Office, so continue stroll via neighbouring Parque with good view of mountains and the Alhambra. Didn’t find the street near Plaza Nueva with a photo-CD service, so kept going to Tourist Information. First one seemed to be invisible, but second one was open. This time map had Carreo on it, right on the Puerta Real I’d just walked past and only noticed the Deutsches Bank. Spanish assistant specially mentioned Mirador de San Nicolas… not sure why??(edit: supposed best view of Alhambra, another edit: it is) Met spanish-capable German lady doing 2 weeks here as break from work (Bianca?) and asked about her school: seems pretty standardised. Showed me on map where to go. Forgot to get info for Andalusia in general or national parks etc. Stamp Machine refused to accept my �1 without being able to give 23c chanqe, but I had nothing smaller so had to wait for a slow teller queue to get to me. Wrote to Dworkins (cousins) on postcard which I was including with letter to Bobba (grandma). Approaching Siesta time just made it to Asociaci�n Escuelas de Espa�ol. Looked at boards while secretary was speaking to guy in German then she wanted to go lunch. Walked a bit with her and got some good info, will go back for prices and a tour. She also recommended a school in Sevilla. Aiming at an English bookstore on Calle Gracia post Siesta for a dictionary. Feel like a coffee but trying not to.

31.3.04 10:51 End of March and in Spain: all’s well
I can’t get this stupid grin off my face… Have to now; brekky just got served. mmm everybody should try a croissant with toasted queso manchego. yum. In a few hours I will have met some of the ultimate players here and started a spanish course, possibly with some flamenco afterwards. How’d that happen? I love travelling.
When I went back to the school we were discussing my spanish level (ie. not much), when she realised no absolute beginners course starts next week. So I grinned and said I’d just have to join those who started this monday. She stopped grinning and wondered allowed if I could start tomorrow and the horse had bolted. The accoms they offer are double street price (still less than munich), but I could share a flat with Spaniards from Saturday. In meantime I’ll see if I can find something for the real local price (martina pays �90 a month, good for her uni but out of town). Chicho (ultimate) has fam visiting so no space there.
We’re meeting in a couple hours, but training starts 30mins before I should be at school, so it’ll be a quick hello. Its cold enough that I’m not too bummed. Hopefully they can help find a room. I’m apprehensive calling the numbers posted on telephone boxes without Spanish ability - a Munich burn.
Last night was cool. Met Justin, his gf Martina and Czech tereza at a Tapas bar. Carsten and Rebekka came later. Say hello Tinto de Verano. Kinda like a rotweinschorle… but different. I think deadly in summer as very refreshing. The ones in the second bar (in a cellar down an absolute nothing of a cul-de-sac alley: you’d never find it without knowing its there) were better. I think the hostal guy already got sick of letting me in after lockup - he gave me keys this morning. Martina said something about a Flamenco performance early tonight. Would be good, I thought training would be this evening but could be doable now.

31.03.04 19:00 first class
Was good. Teachers are only speaking spanish (maria and noelia). Students german speaking (one’s russian) (mark, melanie,anna, anastasia (ish edit: tick) and one missing today(alev)). First bit places, then jobs and professions. Second bit supermarket and edibles.

1.4.04 10:32 Albaycin by night
after class went appartment add reading, then grabbed a baguette. Next time without chips. Supposed to meet J&M 19:30ish for belly dance but scene didn’t 100% fit instructions, so missed them and ended up exploring the Albaycin by night. lots happening, music everywhere, gypsies. Tempted to show fire juggler its not hard, but not while wearing a polyester fleece which melts. Learnt that lesson before (right Buddha?).
Much later, returning via C/Elvira bumped into J and M. Did a couple chores with them, then went to a great small tapas bar, right next to Pl. Neuve. Energetic, friendly waitress (Vicky), drinks, tapas, prices and ambience (bombers scarf a long way from home) all good. Addendum: forgot to pay last round. Returned next day and explained. Wanted �3 and I think he tried to give me more beer.

1.4.04 20:21 muy dificil
slept badly last night and finding it tough to concentrate since midday. that the energy couldn’t last was clear. trying to answer adds- now that I think about it not sure why I haven’t followed original intention and posted myself.
Class nowhere near as good as yesterday. Vocab learning better done at home or via pairing like yesterday. Can’t speak before learning the words. Also topics not as relevant. Furniture and household utensils etc. Addendum: Melanie had same opinion.
Now raining so ducked in cinema/shop complex and hoping for answers to 2 SMSs looking for flat. maybe i should have taken room with the american for the course? could do with a spanish speaking helper. need to tell paco tomorrow if taking school flat. Italian just showed me his. �170 /month.

2.4.04 00:11 a quiet international one
While chasing after rooms, bumped into M walking past telefonica internet place as J used loo! He reckoned SMS text claro. Very nice people. Some dutch arrived (tough names…) and later a swede (Maria: 1/2 malay) and a japanese. J’s noticebook ‘disappeared’ from his hung-up jacket pocket. Must have resembled a wallet. No real loss, good to know such dextorous hands are around. Back around midnight. School group were meeting 11ish, but skipped that. Too tired for now.

2.4.04 Friday
friday school better than thurs. Not very effective flat search beforehand & grabbed a quick feed from el cortes ingles…something I shouldn’t really need to do. Ate near school & regret not helping beggar. Now think he was one who needed it most. I hate that: beggars who don’t need make it harder to give to those who do. Still too much vocab learning in-class. Afterwards chatted to ppl and made plans for Sat. 2pm. Then bumped into Rebekka & Carsten (can’t believe she told me she doesn’t bump into ppl here) who go driving tomorrow. She’s back b4 class ends so swapped #s. J & M also left today.
9ish met up with chicho, who SMS’d me Tapas & fiesta plan. His visitors from Burgos: Mo & 2 Ultimaters(names?). Flatmate V?. Had a beer @ his place with chicho englishing & the others doing their thing in spanish. Better after I requested everything in spanish & only after me no comprende in English. Nice ppl. Lots of drinks & tapas. Eventually back to fetch some bottles & out on the St sth of Pl. Einstein with hundreds of people. This is the aforementioned Botelon(sp?), which will be loads better when not freezing cold. Quite late (4ish). Addendum: some of the others went till 7. Bumped into them on way up Albaycin & they looked dead.

3.4.04 Saturday
set alarm quite early to pack etc. b4 12. No answer from Enrique??? Thought I had other name & #, but missing it. Eventually just checked out & left big bags. Walked to flat & rang bell. Luckily landlord & her daughter cleaning…got key. Not up for more bag schlepping, so to Pl. Nueva for Paella (typical Menu del dia: not that great, but hit the spot.
2pm meet & Alhambra with Mark, Mel and Anna. Beautifully warm & sunny. Started on Calle Elvira & went anticlockwise. I’m not supposed to be carrying laptop up hills like this. Sun always in wrong spot for photos. Not really in foto’ing mood. Nice conversation, the people I’m travelling with are making a big effort to understand my life-movements and choices. Mirador de san Nicolas just a stunning spot & we hung out & schwebten(sp?) (in english…gushed) for ages.
move: carried stuff ok although quite far & taxi would have been easy. No spanish in flat! english speakers: Jakub(Czech), Dirk(de-leaving 5am), Rosa(de), neighbour claire(Fr), friend ?(fin) (that was tuure).
11pm met Anna & Melanie in front of Burger King, then tapas. Went to place they know (near Pl. Trinidad) with good price & tapas. A �1.50 beer/tinto de verano/rioja includes free tapas eg. battered prawns (gambas). Anna split when they shut shop. Near Pl. Real we were checking out the hand-me-out coupons for good deals. In not quite the place we were looking for (ie our coupons didn’t bring free drinks) things turned out well. Met Oscar & friends. nice. The lass behind the bar was showing her figure, tan & tattoo in a revealing gold glittery outfit, but you blokes out there aren’t missing much really. No really- thats no reason to come visit. None at all. After all, its not summer yet. :) They had some weird offer going on, where we got 1 whisky for �5 (or actually 4 whiskeys for �20) (expensive for here), but also 2 pocket radios, 1 small bag & a little point & shoot film camera. The camera is a cool addition for nights out so my digicam won’t get lost/ broken/ nicked. Back 4ish

4.4.04 16:15 waiting for procession
Semana Santa is on. Not that I know much about what that means yet. Sitting out in front of town hall in sun (shorts & sandals) with anna & mel, supposed to meet some more people. Dunno…mel’s roommates. Stunning weather, just went for lunch & a walk in Sacramonte. 2 just rocked up-she made shite first impression (Fabian & another Anna)

4.4.04 Na zdravi.
I heard a few times that bars close earlier and the locals tend to treat Sunday nights to the sleep it deserves. I quite liked the idea, but meeting fun-loving non-working/studying Czechs put an end to that. Originally Melanie & I were going to check out some belly dancing on Calle de las teterias, but since we knew Tiina, Ari & Jakub were seeing flamenco & tango we dropped in there since it was one door down. Big crew. This is a place to sit comfortably on cushions & drink tea. So we did…but nobody danced for us despite me encouraging Ari. Some guy played background guitar. Eventually it was time to seek ale. Funnily enough, this time coincided with the arrival of Czechs: tereza (a different one) & Nadia from Brno. Nadia speaks English with an aussie accent, a result of 2 yrs down under. Sensational. (tereza II is not so lucky- she’s got a pommy accent)
Back in the second place I went here (cul-de-sac), it was quiet. One of the Finns played great panio. When the management cranked up the stereo volume it was time to move on. Most Tapas bars do close at 12 Sundays. This didn’t stop our Czechs, living by the motto ‘if you seek, you will find’. So back to the bar where we were with the Dutch. Eventually (2ish) this place started kicking people out. This is no problem at all for my new Czech friends. A little flirt with the two guys working there, secures drinks while they clean-up. Eventually it really is time to lock up. The bar-guy was not allowed to go home alone. One more bar and a kebab later, was still not enough. Jakub opened some wine at our place. 5:30ish and it was time to think about my first 9am class & get some shut eye.
Semana Santa is a serious, religious time? Try telling the Czechs.

5.4.04 23:57 2 buenas vistas & punny’s
Just back from very pleasant monday sunset@ mirador de san Nicolas and tapas bar with Melanie. Shared table with Sebastian (O…) & Freya (M�nster). Ready for sleep, but since I have to wait to brush teeth, I better catch up on some entries. Sent out a info eMail to lots of people. Volker (legend) simply asked for a blog set-up for me, which is now there. Need to get stuff from Palm/laptop into net. Different options, none obviously good.
Class today was good. Lots of talking & I’ve got most of family tree vocab. Was tired after late night, so had a nap, then did some spanish & went for a run. Simply followed the river south, which quickly became an unsealed road. Some dogs were running a flock of sheep on the banks. Quickly got out of the city & view from bridge with the city, the alhambra/albaycin & sierra nevada with recent snow & blue sky was definitely una buena vista. Hot in the sun. Need to take agua next time.
Afterwards fought my way through a Semana Santa procession crowd on the way to the Albaycin. Beautiful at sunset. Mel foto’d like crazy, I savoured the moment…and wolfed down some food. Busker clowned a tightrope, club juggling & ping pong ball spitting routine. Couldn’t recognise any clich�s in his Spanish.
Which reminds me of a cool class moment. Having mentioned that I like juggling, the teacher, Mari asked for a show (demonstration). I reckon I declined since I lack props. Apparently I actually declined to perform a strip (exhibition). Lots of obvious prop puns in this context, but our Spanish not close to good enough & Mari perhaps too polite. (Addendum: next day cards were mentioned and Mari didn’t blink before suggesting I like strip poker…maybe not too polite) Might have to get Miguel & R� to visit to strip & Buddha can bring some props for a demo :)
Have I mentioned here yet that if you add ‘s’ to the spanish word for wife (esposa), you get handcuffs (esposas)? “Isn’t it ironic? Don’t you think?” Hola Melinda J and anyone with 2 wives.

6.4.04 18:28 cleaning a fridge can be fun
I am rather surprised but I just rather enjoyed cleaning out a stinky full fridge. Its interior is now white. Lots of old stuff needed throwing out. A good wiping out sufficed. Jakub & I kept ourselves amused & we have now apropriated 3L of Sangria & 2or3L of goon (red wine in cardboard). About to go to an info night on Semana Santa. Probably won’t understand much (all in Espa�ol). Class today was ok-lots of vocab missing, but mainly talking which is good. Afterwards had a nice chat with Anastasia (making people laugh, mamuschka, lack of good job opportunities in Russia and similar countries when the youth are well educated), did some shopping & made lunch, eaten while watching old Simpsons episodes (spanish voiceovers just as weird as german ones). Getting lists of useful spanish stuff down on paper & chat to Jakub for break turned into fridge clean. Rosa had to move out & Jakub is moving to tereza & Nadia tomorrow.

6.4.04 23:29 quiet tuesday nights here end at 2am
Francescos Semana Santa info was ok. I understood more than I’d expected. Unfortunately it wasn’t very interesting although everything was muy importante and the procession wednesday is more drunken fiesta then the religous solemnity pervading the others. Its all traditional, but doesn’t hold my interest long…seen enough religious traditions I guess.
Some people went to a Salsa bar, but I wasn’t up for it. Preferred quiet food & drinks in flat with Jakub, Mel, Anna, Ari & Tiina. We got rid of some of that wine, which didn’t taste bad all things considered. Ended up talking to Jakub till 2, despite earlier intentions & he had to be up to pack & get to stables really early. Addendum: next morning a school text mentioned going to bed very late. I asked Mari when this would be in Spain. 1-2am she reckoned. Not quite my experience.

7.4.04 17:21 times they are a-changing
I came into this place on Sunday. Today’s Wednesday & Dirk, Rosa and Jakub have all moved out. Lady B is famed for bitchiness, greed & general untrustworthiness- ie. everything you want to avoid in a landlord. Today was neccessary to clean (its still not that) the little electronic grill/oven thing & pay for 2 gas bottles (�18ish). If rumours about new inhabitants hit the mark I’ll soon be wanting to leave. Ari is cool. There’s a new note on the door saying no fiestas here and to shut up after 12. The old one had something like “you people are pigs” - apparently after one going-away party in January where they had warned the neighbours.
Class today was ok. Did more ‘I like’/’I don’t like’…it was eventually enough so with Noelia we did city layout & directions. I had fun with Perth…The idea was to do a Marienplatz type spot…but I figured doing that 5/6 times was enough. Had to explain who Australia’s royalty is after mentioning King’s Park. Embarassing really. Thanks little Johnny H. Got a list of irregular verbs to do in class tomorrow-just as well I wrote the same kinda list yesterday ;)
Internetted while Jakub waited (bus was late, so he missed ride). DFC has set up a MoveableType blog & sent the info. Looks pretty easy interface. No need to do much with templates initially if at all. Cool fellas!
Was just watching some telly first while eating and then while falling asleep. South America jungle docu & then extreme sports. Some good rockclimbing & then base jumped off (dolomites I think). Nuts. They hammer their gear - all the climbing stuff just got put in a bag & chucked all the way down. Nuts may not be a strong enough word.
Supposed to rain lots again & 13 on Friday/Saturday-blech! Sonja reckons Munich snowing so looks like Rimini cold again.

8.4.04 17:35 Nastrovya
Last night was disorganised. Melanie jumped ship to Oscar’s crew :) & as I got there, Anastasia & her were waiting on film-watchers. I ducked off to supermarket (shut over easter…supplies needed… Bill Lawry could have called the action: one guy didn’t have enough money, some grandma had all sorts of issues & time consuming problems that I couldn’t follow, one of my packets was holy, so I exchanged it & then they’d locked us in) & the film-crew didn’t wait. A & I supposed to catch them @ Pl. Nueve, but not there & Anna’s phone out of service. Whatever. Had good night with 2. Its not every night a 23 year old russian, living in vienna & married to a 1/2 spaniard & a 28 year old Australian with a Russian-speaking dad get to chat in German while enjoying Rioja. Hotel lobby was very pleasant (fountain & cushions), but expensive for here. Then Tapas’d & bumped into Rosa & more processions on way home. Quite happily skipped the late Sacromonte one. The guys that went froze and got bored.