![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
As many of you may know, Kalea and I have decided to spend our Inter-Semester break not in the usual sleepy, half-drunken stupor, nor even (as is the habit of the richer students), skiing. No, instead--against the hemming, hawing and outright warnings of all those we told--we bought a 15-day pass on the Eurolines bus system, thereby to wander around the continent at our leisure.
We started off in London, thence to Amsterdam. Don't let the title fool you; this part of the trip was great, (Coming soon: 'Molly and Kalea's AMAZING Trip Through Europe'), but there was a lot of crap around it, mostly due to our means of travel. After Amsterdam, we went directly to Rome, a 31-hour bus journey. I wrote the following on a bit of paper, waiting to leave the Swiss border into Italy:
( Bullshit )
Then we were in Rome, which you'd think would be great, but wasn't. I mean, it was interesting to see some of the stuff. The Vatican museum was really nice--though the Sistine Chapel doesn't hold a candle to its reputation--and the gelati was delicious. But the whole culture of the place was a little too loud for us, a little too abrasive. There was an definite air of 'you are tourists and we will therefore take full advantage of you' everywhere between the main train station and the Colisseum (less so around the Vatican, to be fair). Our choice of lodging didn't help. We were staying at the 'Freestyle' hostel, a loud, chatty little hole-in-the-wall hostel that might have been pleasant were it not for half the staff and most of the guests. They were all the worst stereotypes of American, Canadian and Australian "I'm on my year/semester/whatever abroad and I'm backpacking around Europe" sorts, who all talked very loudly about very little (mostly where they'd been, where they'd go, and the cost of travel). It wasn't all bad--though the good stuff will be saved for the next entry: 'Molly and Kalea's AMAZING Trip Through Europe'--but we were quite glad, four days and one overnight bus ride later, to get into Barcelona.
Jan, a friend we made in Amsterdam, has some friends here--Anarchist hippie types--who have a sort of permaculture commune thing he thought we could stay in. He was going to come down on Sunday, but in the end couldn't make it until Wednesday, which is the same day I have to leave. Kalea's going to stay a bit longer, and will get to see the permaculture commune, but I'm going to miss it by a day, and am deeply disappointed. Not that I'm especially interested in permaculture (like she is), but it's annoying to finally be in Barcelona and not have any contact with the Anarcho-counterculture. Instead, we've mostly wandered around, being a bit touristy, and stayed in a hostel.
When we were planning this trip, a couple of people expressed their worry that Kalea and I might end up fighting and hating each other, being in such close company for such a long and often stressful time. Actually, we've gotten along great, thanks to realising some quirks of one another. She's grouchy when she's hungry, I'm useless when I'm undercaffeinated. So when we got into Barcelona, we were starting to get tetchy and just looked at each other and I said "you need to eat", and she said "you need some coffee", and that was that.
Still, today has been a bit trying. Tonight we're staying with Kalea's friend Anna, who's here on a year abroad. But our first night in town, like I said, we stayed at another hostel, where neither of us slept much or well. Some of our roommates kept turning the thermostat up to 30, and some others apparently came in loudly at 3 am (I didn't wake up. I can, and have, slept through a hurricane). Then we overslept a little in the morning, making checking out rushed and stressful. I didn't get enough coffee in the morning and was a bit useless all day, which annoyed Kalea, who was already grouchy from her interrupted and overheated sleep. But it never devolved into fighting. Now we've rested a bit, and it's time to head back out on the town. Stay tuned (probably some time next week) for our next installment: 'Molly and Kalea's AMAZING Trip Through Europe'.
We started off in London, thence to Amsterdam. Don't let the title fool you; this part of the trip was great, (Coming soon: 'Molly and Kalea's AMAZING Trip Through Europe'), but there was a lot of crap around it, mostly due to our means of travel. After Amsterdam, we went directly to Rome, a 31-hour bus journey. I wrote the following on a bit of paper, waiting to leave the Swiss border into Italy:
( Bullshit )
Then we were in Rome, which you'd think would be great, but wasn't. I mean, it was interesting to see some of the stuff. The Vatican museum was really nice--though the Sistine Chapel doesn't hold a candle to its reputation--and the gelati was delicious. But the whole culture of the place was a little too loud for us, a little too abrasive. There was an definite air of 'you are tourists and we will therefore take full advantage of you' everywhere between the main train station and the Colisseum (less so around the Vatican, to be fair). Our choice of lodging didn't help. We were staying at the 'Freestyle' hostel, a loud, chatty little hole-in-the-wall hostel that might have been pleasant were it not for half the staff and most of the guests. They were all the worst stereotypes of American, Canadian and Australian "I'm on my year/semester/whatever abroad and I'm backpacking around Europe" sorts, who all talked very loudly about very little (mostly where they'd been, where they'd go, and the cost of travel). It wasn't all bad--though the good stuff will be saved for the next entry: 'Molly and Kalea's AMAZING Trip Through Europe'--but we were quite glad, four days and one overnight bus ride later, to get into Barcelona.
Jan, a friend we made in Amsterdam, has some friends here--Anarchist hippie types--who have a sort of permaculture commune thing he thought we could stay in. He was going to come down on Sunday, but in the end couldn't make it until Wednesday, which is the same day I have to leave. Kalea's going to stay a bit longer, and will get to see the permaculture commune, but I'm going to miss it by a day, and am deeply disappointed. Not that I'm especially interested in permaculture (like she is), but it's annoying to finally be in Barcelona and not have any contact with the Anarcho-counterculture. Instead, we've mostly wandered around, being a bit touristy, and stayed in a hostel.
When we were planning this trip, a couple of people expressed their worry that Kalea and I might end up fighting and hating each other, being in such close company for such a long and often stressful time. Actually, we've gotten along great, thanks to realising some quirks of one another. She's grouchy when she's hungry, I'm useless when I'm undercaffeinated. So when we got into Barcelona, we were starting to get tetchy and just looked at each other and I said "you need to eat", and she said "you need some coffee", and that was that.
Still, today has been a bit trying. Tonight we're staying with Kalea's friend Anna, who's here on a year abroad. But our first night in town, like I said, we stayed at another hostel, where neither of us slept much or well. Some of our roommates kept turning the thermostat up to 30, and some others apparently came in loudly at 3 am (I didn't wake up. I can, and have, slept through a hurricane). Then we overslept a little in the morning, making checking out rushed and stressful. I didn't get enough coffee in the morning and was a bit useless all day, which annoyed Kalea, who was already grouchy from her interrupted and overheated sleep. But it never devolved into fighting. Now we've rested a bit, and it's time to head back out on the town. Stay tuned (probably some time next week) for our next installment: 'Molly and Kalea's AMAZING Trip Through Europe'.
