Barcelona, Spain: NYE in Catalana

I arrived in Barcelona just after midnight on what was now technically New Years Eve. Once I was all checked into to the hostel I was informed that Barcelona was going to have it first fireworks NYE celebration since the new millennium celebration 14 years earlier. I was incredibly buggered and wanted to be well rested before NYE in one of the worlds most famous party cities so I was off to bed.

After the hostel finished going through a map of the sights with a group of us I only had one, although very important, question... "Where is the nearest 100 Montaditos?" I ended up at a Basque Pintxo chain for lunch that just happened to have 0.70 Euro beers and 1 Euro pintxos on Tuesdays. I decided to create my own NYE event on Couchsurfing starting at this bar at 8:30pm. My first day in the city and I'm already organising parties... what could possibly go wrong? Before the party commenced I met up with Pau, a Barcelona local that attended one of my CS BBQs while living in Brisbane, for a tour. On this tour I discovered it was a Catalan custom to wear red underpants on NYE for good luck. So once I returned to my hostel I went into the bathroom only holding a red pair of underpants and came out holding a blue pair... now I had a genuine reason to ask everyone "What colour panties are you wearing?"... and I did.

The Party!

About 20 people had confirmed their attendance. I arrived at the bar to discover it was now closed. The first person I messaged the bad news to invited me to hostel to help him drink a bottle of whiskey so I bailed before I met anyone. I managed to recharge my phone, reply to all the messages (well only the ones via spanish SMS and whatsapp) and reorganise to a central location 2 hours later. It turned out to be an awesome night that involved drinking in the street, a bar, pushing people out of a full so the doors could close, running to the fireworks while eating the 12 grapes in 12 seconds (one for each month, Spanish tradition), catching the fireworks, cheap pizza and a club.

That's all I've got

The next couple of days I just chilled out and changed hostels.

I met up with a Barcelona girl that I met in Nice a couple of weeks earlier for a tour and drinks. She has a very interesting and intriguing life. Her weekend "boyfriend" is a pilot  that flies between Dubai and different European cities. She is his weekend "girlfriend". She flies to a different European city every weekend for free with free accommodation... it's one way to travel on a budget.

The next few days I spent exploring Barcelona.

Christopher Columbus pointing the long way to South America

Barcelona is incredibly touristy and expensive compared to the rest of Spain but good if you want to party. Also, as with a lot of Spain the local language isn't Spanish it is Catala/Catalan/Catalunian (in Catalan/English/Spanish).

The bus to Lyon was cheaper than Toulouse so next stop Lyon, France!

Lessons Learnt:
Check a venue will actually be open before organising a party.
Regardless of whether you think something is right or wrong it can still be fun to talk about... in the case above I would probably do the same.
You don't need to be in a city very long to host awesome parties.

Bilbao, Spain: The Empty Hostel and a New Friend

After an awesome month and a break from travelling in San Sebastian I arrived in Bilbao with a new skill in hand... Español Basico. I walked into a hostel and booked for 2 nights. That night I just wandered around the old town in Bilbao trying a few bars. Bilbao is a fairly large city (400k in city 1m in metro area) with a river separating the new town from the old.

The next day I walked into the breakfast room to start the day. In this 16 dorm hostel I was the only person in the breakfast room and also the only person that slept in my 8 bed dorm. It felt a bit weird. I watched the staff pack up the breakfast and thought maybe I was just late today. My plates and cutlery were the only ones in the dirty dish rack. On my way back to the dorm the 4 computers were empty... I think I was the only guest in this 100+ bed hostel. They should have just asked me what time I wanted breakfast.

After breakfast I quickly researched how to get to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe and jumped on a bus for a day trip. The 40 min bus journey ended at the tiny beach town of Bakio. From there it was a 3km walk along the mountainy coast to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe (enjoy trying to pronounce this name). I arrived at 2 small barriers blocking the path, aparently entry was closed during the months of September and October but I had to see this place. I walked passed these and down the hill. I came to another fence again with a do not enter sign, this one had a 2 metre opening and 3 construction workers working on the other side. I stopped then thought "stuff it, I will walk in and see what happens". I passed through the gate saying Hola, they said Hola back so I began my ascent. San Juan de Gaztelugatxe is a little monastery on an island. It truly is beautiful.

San Juan de Gaztelugatxe

Bakio

Bilbao is the hometown of one my Brisbane Spanish friends, Laura. She put me in contact with one of her friends, Yessenia, a travel consultant that just quit to study english in London, a ballerina and a kickboxer. That night I went to bed early as a tour was to begin with Yessenia collecting me from my hostel at 9am.

After meeting Yessenia at 9am we were on the metro to where the river meets the ocean outside of the city. Yessenia took me on a tour that involved the river, the beach, the new town, the old town, cafes, pintxos, beers, the Guggenheim, meeting her friends and a mountain with a view of the entire city. She even got lost but surely I would never tease a local about getting lost in their own city (; After a 10 hour tour with many laughs Yessenia escorted me back to the hostel.

Yessenia and the best university in Spain

Our transport across the river

The Guggenheim

That evening I collected my luggage from the hostel and went to a couch I had lined up for 2 nights. My host, Roberto, is a Law Professor at a Basque university. He has an apartment in the very centre of the old town and a farm for injured animals in the countryside. I also had my own room in his apartment... Perfecto! We went out for some beers and pintxos that night.

Roberto was off to work early the next morning so I slept until noon, then met back up with Yessenia. The evening included coffee, shopping, meeting more friends, beer, speaking Spanglish and a sad goodbye.

The next day after saying goodbye to Roberto and enjoying a 2 course lunch with a bottle of wine included,  I was off to Gijon via Bla Bla Car.

Lessons Learnt:
Some of the must see places in a region are not well known
Good friends look after you even when in a different country
It doesn't take a long time to become good friends with someone
You never get used to saying goodbye to people you meet
Kind people are everywhere

San Sebastian, Spain: Pintxos, Hiking & Estudiando Español

I arrived in San Sebastian with a one night booking in a hostel followed by 4 weeks in a shared flat. I knew almost nothing about San Sebastian (aka Donostia in Basque, officially Donostia-San Sebastian) before arriving. It didn't take very long to realise I was in possibly the most beautiful city I've ever seen. It has a beautiful and busy old town, amazing beaches and mountains. Plus literally hundreds of bars lining the streets.

My first night was in one of the smallest, cleanest and friendliest hostels I've ever stayed in, Pension Goiko. Since I was going to be staying in SS for long time the girl working there turned my map into a mural. That night I went out with an Australian couple we had many pintxos, kalimotxos, sangrias and beers.

The next day I arrived at my flat not knowing any details. I was greeted by my 4 housemates, a Spanish guy, a Spanish girl and 2 Polish girls. My room was simple but perfect. The highlight  was having my own clothesline through my window. Everyone else had to use the clothes horses. I was always worried about dropping my underpants on someone else's line.

The next day I started school at El Aula Azul (The Blue Classroom). I was welcomed by two awesome ladies, Silvia and Ester (my teacher). The deal was 1.5 hours of 1 on 1 class a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. I commenced as a complete beginner. The class structure allowed me to deviate from the planned lesson and steer the conversation. I remember one day my homework was to describe my entire kitchen in Australia. I provided a photo for comparison... The photo contained 2 ex-girlfriends in my kitchen together. I learnt some very interesting Spanish that day! La conversación en español fue muy interesante ese día!

Ester, mi profesora

I spent my first few days getting used to Spanish life, walking around and studying. I also got back into the habit of daily running.

Thursday came which is Pintxo Pote, 2 Euro for a beer and a pintxo. This was the start of a 5 night bender. I had different arranged meet ups every night mostly with Spanish tourists and a lot of international tourists but not many locals. The film festival was on so the streets were packed.

On Monday I promised no more drinking until the next Pintxo Pote. That weekend I met up with 2 Germans and 2 Mexicans to go on a 25 km hike across the beautiful coastline to the French border. the landscape was amazing. After 9.5 hours of walking up and down mountains and swimming we arrived at the border town.

After the weekend it was back to class. I had also found a language exchange partner to meet with everyday for 1.5 hours for 2 weeks. I wasn't sure what to expect committing so much time to someone I had never met. My exchange partner, Amaiur, turned out to be one of my best meets in SS. She was studying at the highest level of English in another school so the help I gave was a lot more technical than the help I received. Study was actually fun. She also took me to dance Cuban Salsa and introduced me to the incredibly fun game of Padel (tennis with a wall around the court). It was so good to play real sport again.

Amaiur

At the end of my 3rd week an old friend came to San Sebastian... Miren, my host from Rennes. San Sebastian is her home town. We went to the beach, Pintxo bars and a place with the best hot chocolate I've had in my life (chocolate caliente). It's always good to see old friends even if they are relatively new.

in Pintxo bars it's normal to throw your rubbish on the floor

After 3.5 weeks I became a local and a tour guide.

Me giving a tour

Sadly it was time to leave San Sebastian. In my 4 weeks I met a ridiculous amount of people, ate the most amazing food, could hold a basic conversation in Spanish and had an unbelievable amount of fun... next stop Bilbao!

Lessons Learnt:

How to play Padel

Spain has Ratoncito Perez instead of the Toothfairy

You can't notice the financial crisis in Basque Country

Spanish in Latin America is different to Spain

Yo hablo español basico!

The school I attended really was excellent and fun. For 4 weeks of class plus great accommodation it was 1025 Euro for 4 weeks. That is a cheap holiday option plus you learn a new language.