A True Multi-Cultural Experience

Well, as I'm sure you noticed, I was offline for a while. This is because the 2 most recent places that in I've been to (Romania and Austria), I have been staying with people who were not only kind enough to put me up for several days at a time, but also made it their business to make sure that I didn't miss anything that their hometowns had to offer. As it were, I felt like I spent too much time online trying to figure out the next stops (travelling without a plan is actually pretty stressful). It's hard to explain but each time I was online, my hosts were literally just waiting for me to get off the computer, this is the level of hospitality I received. But, I will recant my journeys now that I am alone again.

My first stop after leaving Spain was Romania, specifically Bucsani, Romania, which is where Marina was born and raised until 2^nd grade. Marina's cousin Dan was getting married, and I was fortunate enough to be invited. However, upon arrival, I realized that I had not brought appropriate footwear. I only have beat up Vans sneakers, running shoes, and flip-flops. The first night was spent trying to find someone from whom I could borrow shoes. Apparently, I have big feet in Romania. But we finally found out that the father of the groom has the same size feet, so it all worked out.

Romanian weddings are very complicated and they last ALL day. Literally. The beginning of the first ceremony was at noon and we left the reception around 4:30 AM, leaving about 30 people still dancing behind us. Having not known what to expect, I am extremely grateful to have been allowed to see experience something most Americans never will. I will give you some details and then a few pictures.

The first ceremony is the civil ceremony, and it takes place in City Hall. It is a smaller ceremony, mostly just family and close friends, which I was fortunate enough to be included in. Basically, a civil clerk asks the couple to sign some documents and they are legally married. There is a small celebration where everyone holds flowers over their heads in a tunnel-fashion. But this is not the big celebration.

The big ceremony is the wedding in the church (Greek-Orthodox). Unfortunately, I forgot that I had left my camera battery on the charger and could not take any pictures and Marina forgot her camera entirely, so you'll just have to take my word that it was a beautiful ceremony. It really was. There were several priests involved and lost of chanting/singing. It was pretty cool, and they were dressed differently this time. Tuxedo and bridal gown, not like the civil ceremony (which the pictures are from). They take communion together and there is a part where they both wear these crowns...hard to explain because I don't even get it since the whole ceremony was in Romanian. The funniest part apparently was that the priest called them both by their middle names the whole time, even after the speech about how close he was to their families.

Even though the actual wedding was completely different from anything we in the USA have ever seen, the most surprising part of the wedding was the reception. We walked to a nearby hotel from the church. Downstairs was the reception, and upstairs was where people from out of town were given rooms to stay in. The reception "started" at nine in the evening, but the first course of food wasn't served until 10:00. The fifth (and final, thank goodness) wasn't served until 3:30 in the morning. Between each course was plenty of dancing and talking with the people at our table. Luckily, Marina and I were sitting with the other "youngsters," most of whom speak English well enough, and who are nice enough to engage me from time to time. The dancing was quite varied. Traditional Romanian song and dance (which is not easy or simple, let me tell you) to Jungle Book themes (that's right, they dance to Disney) to Elvis tunes, it was quite a night. The surprising part was that people did not leave early. Some of the people who were still there when we left were some of the oldest, and it was quite late. But I suppose if there is anything worth celebrating to the max, it is a wedding.

• The newlyweds, at the civil ceremony


• Marina and I, from the balcony outside the civil ceremony


• The tunnel of flowers, after the civil ceremony


• The groom, Dan, with all the girls


• The Bride, Carmen, with all the guys

Mystory repeating itself

Another day, another bike ride. This time away from the beach entirely. Eugene was sick and we didn't end up seeing him again. I wanted to make sure to see all of the Gaudi stuff so again I rallied the troops to rent bikes and ride with me to Sagrada Familia and Parque Guell. But before we headed out, we had a fantastic paella lunch in La Boqueria, which is the market pictured in the last post.

La Sagrada Familia is under construction. It is not very far from La Rambla, but the line to get in was unbelievably long. While it would have been awesome to be able to climb the towers and inspect all of the intricate decorations up close, we decided that our time and money would be better spent going to see the Parque Guell. Also, it was so hot outside that getting back on the bikes was not a tough decision. At least on the bikes there's a bit of a breeze. Also, notice that my camera ran out of batteries here at La Sagrada Familia and I had to borrow other's cameras to get what few pictures I did.

On the bikes again, we realized we had taken on another tough ride. Turns out that the Parque Guell is all the way up the hill on the other side of Barcelona. But this time it was an urban climb. But we struggled our way through the streets, though their logic seems to fall apart as the hill gets steeper. Needless to say, we were quite tired when we arrived at the Parque Guell. That didn't dampen our adventurous spirit however. Let's say we were "off the beaten path" a bit in our exploration of Gaudi's work. It is quite a beautiful park and maybe this is the one time I really would have liked a tour guide to explain the significance behind each part of the park. There are bridges over gardens and a large ampitheater. I believe that most of Gaudi's work was religiously commisioned, and I would have liked to know what each part of the park was. The religion is obvious however, as there are vere "Gaudi" crosses at overlooking the best vantage points.

The rest of the trip was a downhill coast to the ocean, and I probably pedaled only 1/5 of the way. It was a very cool way to see the city, as we took as many turns as possible, weaving our way south (and downhill) towards the ocean. This last picture was taken right before we got to the beach. It is called the Arc of Triumph, but I don't remember which language it was in. It surprised me so either French or Spanish. And I'm not sure what triumph it celebrates. Finally arriving at the beach, and some much needed food, I was a bit disappointed. Despite all the hype I had heard about Barcelona beaches, it wasn't too much better than Santa Monica really. I did swim to a rocky island not far offshore with Sen though. And finally, exhausted, we pedaled home along the shoreline back to La Rambla.

I should mention that I moved hostels on this day. I moved from a location a bit farther away from La Rambla, to one right in the middle of it. The reason I say that I should mention it, is that I feel the need to pass on a little advice. Wherever possible, don't sacrafice hostel quality for hostel location. While Center Rambla was a great spot, the hostel was far inferior. It was without air-conditioning, overcrowded, and not very secure. I met a guy who not only had the misfortune of getting his pick pocketed, he returned home only to find that his stuff had been stolen from his room. Granted, he did not use the security lockers which makes it his own fault, but it really goes to show that you can't trust anyone when you aren't looking.

4 Bicycles Built for 4

So I did make some friends last night. Their names are Sen from San Fransico, Brendan from Vancouver, and Eugune from Toronto. As cool as it would be to spend more time with other cultures, it is far easier to spend time with people who speak English. And also less likely to get cultural lines crossed.

I had so much fun riding the bike in Madrid, that I decided to do it again in Barcelona, and strangely, it's hard to separate these groups once they form. So the four of us rented bikes and started off. We had wandered down to the beach last night, so today we took off in the opposite direction. The is a "mountain" called Montjuic with the Olympic Stadium and the castle that traditionally was held by the rulers of the area. I use quotation marks on mountain, because how high above sea level can you get right next to the ocean?

Pretty high actually. You all know that I am in peak physical condition, so it was me who I was worried about. I mean, I could climb unforetold elevations on a beach cruiser in my sleep. Obviously I jest, but it was much more a an effort than I had believed. And I felt bad because while I am actually in the worst shape of my life, I am pretty familiar with bikes and endurance events. Brendan was fine too. But Sen and Eugene definitely got an experience they will never forget. Especially tomorrow morning. Without Eugene's constant reminder, "Well, we've come this far" I doubt we would have actually done the whole climb. I am very glad we did.

While striving to the top of the mountain, we stumbled across the Olympic Stadium and Torch. The most unbelievable part of it was the complete lack of tourists. Not one other person was there. And this complex is enourmous. We are talking in terms of square miles, not acres. Amazing plazas and fountains with great views of the torch and the city...I really can't believe that it wsan't better advertised. I really recommend seeing it, if not to just be impressed by sheer size.

We did make it up to the castle, but there was absolutely nothing to see. Except for a DMV motorcycle testing grounds. We barely stayed for ten minutes. We spent much longer drinking frozen lemonade before coasting 3 miles back into town. Much more fun was watching the Spain vs Germany game in a pretty swanky bar off La Rambla. I got to sing some of the songs I learned in Madrid and since Spain won, Barcelona was a pretty happy place to be for the evening. I did think about going to the FC Barcelona stadium to watch the game, like I did in Madrid, but again, this isn't Spain. Catalaxicans don't care about Spain in the World Cup. Just all the Spanish people who live in Barcelona.

They don't speak Spanish here

They speak Catalan. Then Spanish. Then English. Maybe. But Catalan isn't impossible to decipher as it is also a descendant of Latin. The Catalunyans are very proud to not be Spanish. So I guess I'm not in Spain anymore.

On top of the new language barrier, I apparently don't know East from West. I got very lost trying to find my hostel, but eventually I arrived--exhausted--at Backpackers BCN Casanova, a fantastic little haven away from the main drag with the sweetest lady, Rosa, guarding the door. Not actually guarding it, but she has to open the door for anyone to get in. It was great to see some forward thinking in the impromptu/budget travel world.

When you arrive at a hostel in the morning, you won't make many friends. Since I was already a pro (having done it once before) I knew this and set out on my own to see La Rambla, which is were Hollywood Boulevard meets Las Vegas Boulevard. It's kind of the thing to do in Barcelona. It starts with Plaza Catalunya which is sort of the center of the shopping district and then La Rambla goes all the way down to the ocean, where there is a statue of Christopher Columbus, pointing the wrong way. Apparently, there was a point in time where the Catalanese were convinced that Colom was Catalanish so they built a statue. Turns out he was probably Italian and why the statue points to Libya is still a mystery. Anyway, La Rambla is basically about 3/4 of a mile of bars and restaurants, with a few souvenier shops thrown in. There is a median in the middle where you can buy anything, from flowers to exotic pets, play some 3-Card Monte, or bribe a "statue" to pose with you so you can take a picture.

I have been using a guide book given to me by my good friend Carl Green and one of the suggested restaurants is called Els 4 Gats which according to my crude Catalanian knowledge stand for The 4 Cats, which explains their logo. It was a nice place. It's a bit weird eating by yourself in a historically relavent place but I enjoyed myself.

Continuing my walking tour, found the Gaudi Cathedral, which is near La Rambla and as it turns out, it is under construction. I hear that a lot of Gaudi's stuff is under construction, so for better pictures of what I am seeing, please consult Google. I mean Bing.

A brief update

For those of you who have found your way to this blog, I am sorry that there haven't been more updates. I have been having a blast, don't you worry. After my adventures on in Madrid and the night train, I spent 3 crazy days in Barcelona.  I literally conquered that town by bicycle.  I will upload pictures and with any luck, a few videos of my exploits there.  Quick note: it seems that to go to Barcelona as a tourist is to see Gaudi. Everywhere. 

In more recent days, I find myself between Targoviste and Bucsani, Romania.  Bucsani is a very small village near the larger city Targoviste.  Marina's cousin was married on Saturday and I had the privilege of seeing a wedding in a different culture.  Again, I will provide more details when I have better internet access but for now, it was a very beautiful experience.  Very different from the traditions we have in the United States and I am glad to have experienced this kind of event somewhere few people like me ever have or will.

In case I don't write again before then, I will be arriving in Vienna, Austria on Thursday evening.  I have a relatively good friend there named Max who spent some time with me in the United States.  I imagine that it will be here that I can write in more detail about my recent adventures.  

Thanks for checking in.   I will write again soon.

He who does not run with bulls

I'm trying to catch up on posts so forgive the lack of details here. However, I doubt that I will skip much about Day 3 because it was mostly a wash.

Travelling without planning much beforehand has it's ups and it's downs. Freedom to do whatever you want at any moment is tampered by the fact that some things require advance notice. And despite much effort on Monday, it turns out the I will not be attending the Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona this year. I will be back I promise, but without prior reservations, I am left with nowhere to stay and no way to get there, with out spending more on one city than i planned for maybe 3.

But I am off to Barcelona. Which was also tricky to plan at the last minute. It turns out that 3 hour rapid-trains are $150 to travel within a week of planning, but the night trains are less than half the price. It takes all night, but you also don't have to pay for a hostel. And come on...it's a night train. Even being forced to take first class was actually a disguised gift. In first class, the seat folds into a mini, curl-up sort of bed. But if you have luck like me, then you have the whole compartment to yourself and you can lay two of them out to form a full, layout bed. So I am off to sleep and Barcelona.

A bicycle built for one

So, after recovering from some serious jetlag, by sleeping until 14:00, (...don't worry I woke up for the free breakfast. I just went right back to sleep...)I decided that I wanted to go see El Parque del Buen Retiro (the park of good rest)...you know, because I needed some rest after all that resting. Actually, I read that it was a cool place to go on Sundays because everyone goes there on Sundays. But taking the metro seemed to be old hat. I decided to rent a bike. What started out as a simple trip to the park turned into a full day of a self guided tour of the city. It's awesome! Here are some pictures:

• Me in front of the Royal Palace


• Conventa de las Saelas Reales


• Opera House


• Almudena Cathedral


• Templo de Bodad


• Palace overlooking Madrid


• Plaza Mayor


• Iglesia de los Jeronimos


• Parque del Buen Retiro


• Palacio de Cristal


• Monumento a Alfonso XII