Into Thin Air...

We finished Geneva strong. We wandered the town, took in the festival, listened to the French's take on "Shake, Rattle and Roll", posed with the huge water fountain and split a 5 L beer. The Swiss do a great job with there cheese, chocolate and general precision. Overall a good finish to a nice town.

Next, we took the train to the French Alps. Our destination was Chamonix, a valley town sitting below Mount Blanc. The town is beautiful and the mountain is gorgeous. After arriving, we went for a short hike through the town and around the hills.

The next day we rented mountain bikes and explored the area. During 2 treks, we covered 30 Km around the valley. The ride provided for a great work out and many great sights. As we made the turn home, we got cooled off by a light drizzle, which was a good ending six hours on the bike. As we walked through the town, we remarked how we had not bumped into anyone else we knew from the states. Not one minute later, a man runs after Jesse; it turns out Jesse's third cousin is also here in the Alsp. Who knew? Two more days here and then off to Zurich.

Midnight in Monaco

After a great afternoon wandering around and exploring Nice, we spent the evening relaxing at a local bar. Ironically, the live music was all classic US rock and an assortment of other musicincluding Tenacions-D. We filled our time with many games of hearts and Guiness.

The next day we took a day trip to Monaco. This tiny country probably has the highest concentration of wealth anywhere in the world. I have never seen to many amazing cars in one place. The city is designed in many vertical levels, which took some time to learn to navigate. We walked along the port and took in the amazing scenery of the coastal town. On our walk to the palace, we were followed by what appeared to be a choir of teenagers that sang harmonous French melodies as we meandered through the narrow, cobbled stone streets. It seemed like something out of a movie and made for an enjoyable walk.

Next we found the Monte-Carlo casino. Out front was every cool car one could imagine. We walked into the casino feeling like we were in some scene from James Bond. Unfortunately, we do not have the Bond -like bank roll to pay for the entrance fee to the main (ultra extravagent) gaming room, so instead settled for 5 euro of Jacks or higher in the common area. All and all, a great time. At midnight, we boarded our train back to Nice.

The next morning we left for Geneva, Switzerland, where we have already seen the UN, had some great chocolate and saw the largest water fountain in Europe. Tomorrow we are off to the French Alps.

Four Minutes of Bull

We hopped on an Ave train to Madrid (super fast) to meet Aaron and continued on to Pamplona. We arrived at 11 PM on the 13. The 14th of July is the last day of the Festival of San Fermin (aka, the running of the bulls, reference link ). Luckily, we were able to arrange for a single room to keep our luggage for the 12 hours we were in the city.

Fireworks were lighting the sky as we walked out of the train station. We got in a taxi and drove to our room at the local university. Unknown to us, there are two universities in Pamplona with the same name, one public and one private. Our first stop (at the public institution), brought us to a locked sports complex with no sign of a place to stay. At this point our taxi driver told us "tienes problemas" (you have problems). After some discussion, we went to the appropriate location and dropped our bags off.

We walked to the center of town where we found two drastically different scenes. The first was plaza with many older people (50-80 yrs) at 1 AM dancing to live music and enjoying the evening. We joined the dancing to the band's rendition of "I Will Survive". Second, we meandered to the path of the running of the bulls. This narrow, cobbled stone street was PACKED with thousands of 15-24 year olds drinking and running around like crazy. The streets were trashed with garbage and smelled like a seven day long party. At this point we realized that the bulls are not the dangerous part of the festival's main attraction, but rather the hundreds of other people running in the streets.

We needed to be at the festival route at 6 AM for a good view, so we obviously had to stay up all night. This required multiple coffees and some games of hearts to make it to the sunrise. When we arrived in the morning, the street was mostly empty. By 6:30 AM, fences were up and we straddled them for optimal run viewing.

At 8 AM, a rocket marks the start of the race and the bull's are released into the streets. We were at the end of the path, so it was calm for 2 minutes. Then, it was like a scene from a 9-11 documentary when you see tons of people running away from a single location. After 4 minutes, the run was over and the crowds cleared. We returned for our bags, a quick shower and were off again to the train station for a overnight train to Nice. Thus far, Nice has been very nice.

"So Big They Will Think We Are Crazy!"

...said the architect of Seville's cathedral.

We finished off Granada with another amazing Schwarma meal (I tried for one the night before, but no meet was left for my consumption) and a few drinks at a great Irish bar (yes, even in Spain). The funny thing about bars there is they typically only stock one type of beer, so it was nice to grab a Guinness. Also, I am really taking a liking to the Spanish music with its great beats and all its required clapping.

We woke the next morning, ran to the train and left for Seville. The trains in Spain in amazing: quiet and fast with science fiction-like sliding bathroom doors. Seville is a quiet town with narrow streets and intense heat. We wandered the city for a bit, getting lost occasionally and took in the sites: the tower of gold, the cathedral (it's big) and the river. A siesta was essential come the mid-afternoon.

Our hostel was a very cool little place that provided free internet (always welcome), good company (Brazilian roommates), and a free bar crawl. We visited five locations: two tapas bars, a dive bar, a flamenco bar and a discoteca. The live flamenco music was different and great, in contrast to the luxurious, loud and large club. It was fun to see the extremes.

Hello Mother, Hello Father, I am here at Camp...Granada!

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We have arrived in Granada after a great 3 days in Barcelona. Barcelona was amazing, a cool little town with great art (picaso), good food (tapas, paella), great beaches and a nice atmosphere. We then took an overnight train to Granada where we have been since. We ended up sharing the sleeper cabin with the loudest snoorer I have ever seen. Made for a fun sleeping time.

We have explored the city since. We saw the Alhambra, got some great Schwarma, and even visited the local science museum. Averaging a solid 5 plus miles a day. During a late night beer with some acetuna (sp? - olives), we randomly bumped into some ucla folk doing a study program here. Small world. I am averaging 100 photo per city, so those pictures will tell a better story than my words. The city is definitely calmer than Barcelona, but also has a great feeling to it. I could definitely spend some more time here relaxing.

Otherwise, we leave tomorrow morning for Seville and then Pamplona.

Hola de Barcelona

Flight arrived at 8 AM and spent the day travelling the city. Wanted to fall asleep throughout the day, but ended up keeping busy so that we slept from 12-10AM and woke up feeling good. The hotel is nice, it is an old catherderal next to the city hall. We shared a room with two Brasilian guys who are travelling as well.

The town is amazing. We pretty much walked around town for six hours seeing everything from the park with classic fountains, the familia cathederal and the port. We have stopped at many of the little shops interlaced among the many old fashion streets for cafe con leche and bocadillo con jamon. I think we will be living off that stuff for a while. Today we made a stop at the beaches which are awesome, but there are warnings of jellyfish, so there was limited time spent in the water. My spanish has been holding pretty well. I can manage fluent converstations and can ask for directions and even understand the response.

Tomorrow we leave for Granada on an overnight train.

Vale!

Hmm

Blinded By Busyness
Amygdala Override
Solitary Mental Confinement