Berlin, Germany

Day 57

The directions I had to this hostel/ hotel was clearly given to me. I was to take the train straight to the appropriate station. Once I arrived at the airport I found out there was no trains and only buses. I immediately knew I was screwed and felt lost. What airport was I at again?I asked for help by showing the information people the station I need to get to from my email. I was told to hop on the bus and follow the U sign once I arrived at Alexanderpantz to find the train.

I was getting confused with all these German words. They all looked the same to me and was relying heavily on my email to remind me of what station to get off. As I approached the end of this bus ride I pulled out my phone to find out where I should be going. Oh No! I must have accidentally deleted the email while I was playing around with my luggage. With no wifi and every German word looking the same I officially have no clue where I am going. After several minutes of minor panicking. It clicked to me that I may have that email on my laptop. Thank God! It was there. I felt back on track now. I found myself at the U Bahn (Underground Trains) and followed as per instruction.

You would expect to find the barriers to enter the station expect I found myself  straight onto a platform and not the one I need. It was like a maze in here with stairs going up & down and straight into different platforms.  None of hose platforms went to my station. This is getting beyond silly. I wondered around and had no idea until I came to conclusion that I needed the S Bahn (City Rail). The U Bahn connects into the S Bahn but at the opposite end of it. The adventures of my navigation is getting out if control. LOL. I eventually made it to my hostel after finding my station.

I never so any research when landing in the countries I made plans to. Every time I arrive into a new country I am in shock and I would say culturally shock. I had no idea what Germany would bring. The punk community here is very large. They are almost everywhere. I only know that Melbourne has a small community of it but they usually disappear. I don't know exactly where they hang out or do back in home. In Germany, they are everywhere and instead of finding homeless people begging for money, it's the punks that do here. I have walked passed a few asking me something in German. I later found out they literally say 'Do you have any spare change for beer?'. How ridiculous. The next day I saw a sign in English reading 'I need money for beer and weed'.

I next noticed on the streets, it didn't matter what age you were people at least holding a bottle of some alcoholic beverage on their hand. Did I mention the bottle was open too? I still comes as a shock to me that you are allowed to freely drink anywhere in Europe. It felt uncomfortable at start but I am starting to get use to it.

I was also weather shocked. It was 13 degrees. I have been travelling around with summer clothing only. It felt like winter. I left Barcelona this morning and it was humid. In a matter if a 3 hour flight I am in winter. With no warm clothes I opted to find quickly some dinner and spend my night in researching in what Berlin had to offer.

Day 58

I decided amongst all walking and bike tour that I would do the alternative tour. History and Calafati don't really mix well. I wanted something that would interest me and this had flea markets and urban art involve. Penny our tour guide was from Scotland but has loved in this city for the past five years. She was into urban art but writes press released for street art. Germany was known to be the street art of Europe. It houses over 700 active artistes. Grafting is illegal here but it will be hard to be caught. The country only employs about 20 members to  clean, log and catch.

She had full knowledge of the the type of street art and background of many street artistes. It's amazing how they interrupt themselves and why they choose to use such portrait to represent themselves. Street art is everywhere around Berlin and it constantly grabs my attention. She even took us to this African camp. A small area by the river where it once was only a public basketball court. The Africans didn't have much money and hence the reason why they hanged around here. Today it's a place called 'YAAM' where they now have a soccer field, kids playground and constantly holds festival. They also have a small bar inside that is non profit. All the profit they earn here gets sent straight to places like Jamaica to help out the poor community. The vibe here was amazing. I felt so happy standing right here knowing of such good cause.

We ended the tour at an that had an abandoned train station. I forgot when but the station was bombed years ago. She told us a story that this was pretty much where the underground raves were born in Berlin. Every night you would hear music but all the doors were closed and you would wonder how to get in. At the end of this strip there was a Doner Kebab stall and there would be constant traffic going in and out. Apparently there was two toilets in there, one that was a toilet and the other a hole with a ladder down there. This was were the entrance and exit was to these clubs. The council was getting worried and decided to shut down this place, however a kind businessman bought this place and leased it out to the squatters to continue their club scene. Oh how i wish I got to experience the going down and up the hole to these rave parties. It sounds so much fun.

Day 59

I wanted to make this day useful and made myself available early. It was a Sunday and to my surprise all the shops were closed. Only a few restaurants & cafe was open. I was supposed to have breakfast with Thais (My new friend from my Madrid hostel) but she was MIA. With everything closed I made my way to some park karaoke I googled online. At this point I was so desperate for a kaffee (coffee). I was having a hard decision in where to have it. #storyofmylife I finally settled for this little cafe near the station I got off for the park. Here I found wifi and surprisingly I heard from Thais. She lost her phone and was having difficulty contacting me.

She had plans to take me to a market and ironically it was at the same place of this karaoke place. It was right next to each other, We headed to the public karaoke first. I could only say how brave these people are. It was such a fun atmosphere. Apparently people come super early to put their names down and most of the people are regulars that come to sing every week. The regulars alwsys sing the same song every week. There was so many different types, starting from young, old, crazy cat woman,  another country, bad singers & good singers. I could come here all the time. It was so entertaining and it had me laughing non stop.

It was getting late and by the time we made our way to the flea market it was beginning to pack up. Thais actually lived in this neighbourhood for a year. She showed me around and took me to her favourite cafe. Here I had  this banana cake (bread in my eyes) and it was the best I have every had. It was so crunchy on the outside but super moist inside. Thais was living on a massive hangover and I was getting exhausted and an end to the night was called. It was with great pleasure to finally have a human to speak to.

Day 60

I had no plans at all. I ended up at the east side of the Berlin wall. It was incredible to see all the artworks along the whole wall. Someone helped me make a decision on where to go. It was a random train station. I had no expectation of what there was but boy, was it a good choice. It was where the Berlin gate was. There was a few other things around that I took pictures of and have yet to figure out what it was. There was this massive park that ran down about 4 to 5km. There was a beautiful road in between and I decided to walk the whole lot. Everyone should know that by walking is the best way to discover things especially when travelling. There was so many stops along this walk that I have yet to figure out what it is.

It was raining and I dread the cold and decided to head back to the hostel and chill. I needed to recheck in and this time to a female dorm. Here is where I met Maria, a Canadian that was born in Rome but her parents are from Poland. She can speak Polish, English, Spanish and French. She was an artist too. She too was travelling alone. She is also a talented artist. We started off speaking only and decided to go for a walk to explore. We ended up walking all the way to the central part of Berlin which when thinking about it was far. We stopped off for a German dinner. It was actually so good to have someone to share food with again. German food is quite heavy and we definitely needed that long walk back to the hostel. Meeting Maria was one positive in my journey. We are somewhat similar in a way. At this time I didn't know this will change my travels. Everyone was so friendly in this dorm. We made friends with Antonia from Northern Italy (my first Italian friend) and ended up the bar downing a bottle of wine. Antonio is in Berlin to look for a job. She loves this city so much and wants to live her. She was here for a few days to send her job applications to agents.

Day 61

Maria and I signed up for free yoga this morning. It was a struggle and a lot of contemplating in bed this morning whether to do it but we finally got off our asses and headed upstairs. Within 5 minutes into it i wanted to leave. I have always hated normal yoga and I tend to put myself in this situation every two years thinking that one day I will enjoy it. This is like the third time in my life. I vow to never attend another yoga class ever. I will stick to my bikram yoga.

Maria decided to join me on my day trip to Potsdam. I didn't know what to expect but have heard off Thais that they have beautiful gardens there. Thais actually travels to Potsdam to attend university. It was about over an hour train ride to get there. The town was old which was perfect. Berlin is so modernised and it was so good to be surrounded by something old again. This is the Europe we both know and love. We pretend we knew what each fancy building was and took photos of them like any typical tourist. There was a closed up street where you can walk freely. It was amazing, it felt like a market but not quite. We were heading in the direction of some history persons palace and so we think.

We made it to Sanssouci, his palace but the actual building was deep inside. He had a massive garden, one where you wouldn't be able to see it all in one day. We walked pass this massive driveway with massive trees lined up and eventually found ourselves at a big fountain. We stopped, sat and popped open a bottle of wine. It was picnic time. After half a bottle we decided to continue walking. We walked so much and it felt like the exit was so far away. We finally found his palace but it was closed, so what else to do? We made used of his grass in front and continued out wine while talking a lot of nonsense. exactly what I enjoy doing. It was late and we knew it would take us about an hour to get back to the train station. So we made our way slowly back stopping by for an ice cream. yummmmmm

A friend from France was really sweet by setting up a dinner with her friend in Berlin for me. She knew I was travelling alone and must have felt sorry for me? Maria & Antonia was gonna join us. I didn't know what to expect or even how she looked like. It felt like a blind date. We had plans to meet at a tapas place. Tapas will definitely remind me of Spain.

Antonia the Berlin expert (as this is her fourth time here) guided our way to the restaurant. She was adorable and lost at the same time however she still managed to get us there. If it was left to my navigation we might make it on time for breakfast. I was meeting up with Lonni and her boyfriend (I forgot his name). She was German and he was Canadian. They were very accommodating and everyone was getting along. It actually felt nice to have dinner with people I barely knew because everyone had stories to share and I am sure we all learnt something tonight.

Antonia, Maria and I decided to hit the town as we were in Berlin and needed to see what the rage was about. It was a Tuesday night and we were suggested to hit up Cookies. There was another place that was popular but we were warned they only allow selective people in. Cookies was definitely not our scene. The music was deep and dark. The crowd was all of different kind. They even had a room with hip hop tubes. We all could not handle this place and decided to give it the boot. We made our way back to the hostel, popped open a bottle of wine on a classy manner and bid goodnight to each other.

Day 62

It was my last night in Berlin. Maria has decided to come with me to Munich and wing her way around Oktoberfest. We set ourselves a mission to find a cheap sleeping bag or blanket for our camping in Munich. We went to second hand stores but we ended up founding ourselves in vintage second stores which made things extra expensive. We settled a big cheap blanket in Primark.

It was 5pm and we needed to make our way back to the hostel. Antonia was leaving tonight and we wanted to farewell her.  She will be missed. I still remember the first time we spoke. She was so friendly and was always up for anything. She is also kind at heart always lending offering to do research for us. She would have joined us for Oktoberfest but she had a mini holiday booked in at that time with her boyfriend. She mentioned there was a wine festival in Northern Italy that she attends every year. Apparently its the perfect opportunity for everyone to get wasted and its one of her best day of the year. She extended the invitation to us and we are now pretty sure we will give it a go. We will try and make our way up there, depending on time/money.

We shared a bottle of wine and Antonia didn't want to leave. She was about 20 minutes behind schedule when she left. Maria and I spent the rest of the night catching up with the world and readying ourselves for Munich tomorrow. Bring on camp life and Oktoberfest.

xo

Calafati

Barcelona, Spain (AGAIN)

Day 50 & 51

I landed in Barcelona on a Friday and for the next two nights I didn't want to do anything crazy. It's hard to believe I would say this during a weekend. It is definitely hard work being a tourist.

This place already has memories everywhere for me. I wish someone would build a time machine and bring me back. It was only two days but it was enough to stay within my thoughts.

Day 52

My sleeping routine is all over the place. I now struggle to get up even with 8 hours of sleep. I would guess that I am so use to this no responsibility life. It was time to make myself useful after days of nothing. How convenient on a Sunday where shops would close early. I decided to make my way to one of Guadi's piece of work. Park Gueili.

I arrived at Valcarca station and tried to navigate my way to this park.  Luckily it was a tourist spot which made it easier to locate. All I had to do was follow the crowd. I didn't realise the park was set upon a hill which to no surprise there was a million steps to get up. The escalators was not working today, what a coincidence! Up the hill I go.

The steps weren't finish, The whole park was an incline which meant steps everywhere around. It's amazing this place. Up on top you can see the whole city centre of Barcelona with the sea at the very end. You can see the huge amount of effort he put in creating this kingdom. I think he was known for his murals. The whole park was tiled with small art works made out of tiny tiles. The colours he chose to use was vibrant enough to grab my attention. He must have took years to finish this place off. Every piece of art he created was carefully detailed and assembled.

This whole place was filled with people which made it hard for me to chill. It was loud. As I was about to end this trip short, I could hear cheers softly at the back of my ears. It was somewhere close but far. I decided to walk further up and there it was, a random soccer field up in the park. There was a local game on. I already love watching soccer and I noticed I get so much more into it when it's a field full of Spaniards. Here I stationed myself till the game finished. It was actually an exciting game with close goals but no goals. 

I decided to finally participate in a free walking tour. I have been staying away from it as I preferred seeing things at my own speed. I ended up in an usual tour, not your landmarks and normal history one but an unofficial tour which took you around the streets of Barcelona searching for street arts. I definitely am looking forward to this now. Alex our tour guide had many stories to share about each artwork and artist. It's quite astonishing in how one artist credits himself world widely.

Grafting is illegal in Barcelona but  there is this wall that was left behind from a demolished factory which is now a skate park ground. Alex told us that you can apply to have your spray art on it however it will only have a life of a few days. Your artwork would get painted over within a couple of days. It's like a new story for Alex everytime he takes a new tour group because he never know what he will see. He also pointed out the oldest sex shop still running in Barcelona, Bagdad. The stories he had to share was not kind to the ears. This tour definitely was worth it,I learnt the history behind the Raval (Xino) vs Gotic area, The Catalunya community and the word, Squats (Squats, Squatters & Squating). All these words and buildings I have been seeing has finally made sense to me. 

We finished the tour off at a bar and with a complimentary free dinner (nothing fancy).

Day 53

It has been hit & misses with the weather in Barcelona. It can be sunny and warm enough for the beach but out of no where it can go cold and rain. It kind of reminds me of weather at home. I headed out to hire a bicycle. I wanted to explore Barcelona in wider stretches but secretly I needed to get some exercise in me. I just rode and rode for hours. I passed through all these different beaches and the further I got the quieter the beaches were. Barcelona beach was heavily packed with people and it was way more commercial. I found myself in a deserted beach with a packet of Spanish ham and piece of baguette. Just the way I like it.

I continued riding heading to the different ports of Barcelona. It's amazing where a bicycle could take you. I wouldn't have walked this far if I was walking. I don't think there was any metro close by either. Before I knew it I have been roaming around for 4 hours. The rain started to come softly. I saw a local shopping mall and decided to take a break. Tossing and turning whether I should reward myself with a glass of rosé. In the end I satisfied my other craving, coke zero on a can. The shopping centre had free wifi. When you put Calafati & Wifi together, we wouldn't know how to superstate. The dark clouds faded and the sun was out. I had to pull myself out of this wifi zone and head down to a beach for the normal routine, beach nap. 

Time really flies when you are enjoying life. it was 6:45pm when i woke and I was surely running late for dinner. I was meeting Kerry, my roomie. Negro Paella was on my 'must-try-before-i-leave-Spain-list). Tonight I was determined to have it. Kerry was somewhat frustrating. She really liked to complain about things. I am at a point of my life where I dislike hearing people complain. It is what it is, we can only learn to deal with it and move on. I have surely learnt that I no longer want to be the person who stresses about things. I am now wanting to be the person that doesn't let anything get to her. This will save so much energy of mine.

She did managed to pull out a very interesting topic. One she had me so curious about and that I had to go back and google more information on it. The topic was regarding the human brain. There have been proven facts that our brain is constantly forming and is not until you reach about 25 years old the brain finalises the form. Here in the new few years, you will start to understand alot of the present and past events that has happen. Here you will begin to become the person who you really should be. Here you would finally link all your unsolved thoughts. I actually said something to her that I have never said to anyone before. It was a reason why such event happened on my life. It was weird because I only figured that out 3 minutes before she spoke on this topic. She caught my attention bad. 

The paella was delicious. I definitely could not finish it but forced it down my throat. Kerry left me to end my night on my own as she wanted to attend a tango class. I walked through the streets of Barcelona to digest my full belly. I landed myself at the waffle place we were last time and had to buy something to be reminded of the happy times. I scream, you scream, we scream, ICE CREAM please. I even found myself at that McDonalds. My feet obviously didn't want to stop by bringing me to all these places. All happy places. 

Day 54

Churros & croissant dipped in Spanish chocolate for breakfast! Yummmmmmmmm! What a wonderful  way to start my day however it was lunch time tho. I spent most of the day walking and looking. There is so much to see. I ended up finding a new area in Barcelona that I will come back ad explore properly during the day. I ended the night in with my favourite wine, cheese and olive. PERFECT! 

Day 55

It was Catalan National Day. I had plans to so a few things but was shut down as soon as I stepped outside. All the shops were closed which I wasn't prepared for. Catalan is an area in Spain that wishes to be it's own country. Apparently years ago they were their own country. People in the Catalan region would all come out and form a human chain which stretched over 400km. They just stand there all day. I think that's so amazing showing support for what you believe in. It was hard to get through town as the chained blocked most of the road. It even twisted into little alley ways. 

All the shops were closed so I has no option but to kill time by feeding myself. I found myself at a tapas joint. Travelling solo has made it hard to have tapas. I would be so greedy if I was to go have tapas because I would definitely over order. I walked a bit and found a place that did small plate full which means I could try more things. It was so delicious!!!! I love Spanish food or should I say I LOVE FOOD!!! 

Day 56

It was my last day in Barcelona and I definitely had a mission to accomplish. Today's mission, one last feed at the market, paella cooking class and magic fountain.
With a late rise I head to the market for a quick bite. I wanted to walk te streets again to leave a clear memory of Barca in my mind. No, actually I preferred to hang out at one of those many plaza. The surroundings are just so amazing and beautiful. Of course with a glass of champagne!

Why does time fly so quick when you don't want it to end? I made my way to the class I had booked in. Fernando from Argentina was our teacher aka the cook. He took us to my favourite market to purchase the ingredients. The market was closing but I would assume there was pre plans with the stall to stay open just for this short 10 minutes. We ended up at a seafood stall. Everything was laid out picture perfect. Here he purchased the seafood for the Paella. He then took us to a cured meat stand explaining the different class of jamon (cured ham). Cured meat is totally my weakness.

We made our way to a local bar where we had a reserved area at the back. As soon as we all sat down we had jugs of Sangria placed for us. Fernando brought out plates of different kind of meats, cheese, bread and the ever so popular patatas bravita (potatoes). He then thought us the correct way of eating these. You need to firstly grab a slice of bread and rub a tomato on it. Followed by a slice of cheese and then your preferred topping. There was jamon (cured ham), salami, chorizo, egg omelette, fried jalapeño & patatas (potatoes). Thete was so much food going on here. After these were all demolished we moved into the main course, the Paella. He gave a very informative session on it. I think I may have mastered this. LOL. Who am I kidding? As if Calafati can cool. It would be a miracle. While the rice was cooking we were taught how to make sangria. He taught us the correct quantity of substances. We all even got a chance to make a jug ourselves. The Paella was finished cooking and our main was served. I felt like rolling out of the door once everything was in my tummy. Overall there was so much food and sangria going on tonight.

After class I made my way to the magic fountain, where most nights they a light & water show every 30minutes. I wish I discovered this place earlier because the whole place was full of amazing buildings. Typical  Calafati never wanting the night to end (in denial) decided to walk back to the hostel to savour my last hours in Barcelona. I didn't care that it was gonna be a long walk because I have all the time in the world but being a Calafati means you will surely get lost. I spent half an hour walking the opposite direction to the hostel. I only realised when I decided to pull out the map to see where the hell I am. Fortunately I was able to read the map this time. The night is now over which means Barcelona is finally coming to an end.

I already miss Spain and I haven't even left.

See you in Germany.

xo

Calafati

Ibiza, Spain (Round 2)

Day 43

I am back but this time flying solo. I could not stop laughing as soon as I hopped of the plane because this place definitely has a place in my heart and has so much memories flying for me.

I made reservation at a hostel down at Ibiza Town. On the bus I go and the directions to this hostel is very unclear. I hope I have gotten off the same stop. The rain starts pouring heavy and with all the luggage on my back I needed to duck for shelter. I watched the rain fall for almost half an hour before I continues my journey. I finally found it. The hostel was quite hippie and of course I was allocated to the dorm named "India".

I dumped my bags and wanted to explore the town. I remember the last day I was here I discovered the beauty of this side of the island. Hold on, I got side tracked. I met some fellow Aussies downstairs and before I knew it, 6 cans of beer & two bottle of wine has been demolished. As night fell more people joined and more bottles of wine were open. I had plans for two easy nights before I make myself useful on this island.

In a blink of an eye I was on my way to Pacha. If you know me well enough I can tend to be persuaded for most things while heavily intoxicated. It is definitely something I want to change in myself or maybe I am too conservative and is really following my heart.

It was not a big night for Pacha so the crowd was not as massive as how others described their precious experience. They were playing deep house all night long. I later discovered majority of the hostellers I was with were either WEAK and had to leave early or they would want to TALK A LOT. I have learnt over the passed few years that when I am Calafati is raging I prefer (need) to have my spacious dance space and no chitty chatters around me. I can handle having someone throw a few words to me but that is all. I call this the CALAFATI SPACE!!

It was stressful breaking away from the group looking for my SPACE but I eventually did. I ended up at an breathable spot with a guy from Norway. There we raged and did not exchange a single word. Exactly the way I like. I later found out he likes to be kept alone while he enjoys the music. We were now buddied up for our further eventuates to club.

The club was coming to a close however we were given wristband to the after party. It was now 7am. We lost the whole group but it didn't bother us. We both were on a high and didn't want the night to end so we cabbed it to the after party. it was located underground at One of Pacha's resort. It was dead silence when we arrived and I was so certain we were scammed. OMG! it was really underground and the music was blocked from the outside. We continued our journey in. It was a very intimate place and not crowded at all. All of the DJs that were playing earlier on are here but they weren't performing. They were here to party themselves. It was super awkward seeing them first hand pop. I guess they too are normal human beings like us and know how to enjoy except they are talented in someways.

We stayed for a few hours and headed back to our hostel. It was already the morning and I am now moving into 

Day 44

Ibiza definitely brings out the hidden energetic on you. We didn't want t to end so grabbed some drinks for the local convenient store and headed down to the beach. Here we finally played music we liked and just stared into the sea. Ok, maybe a lot of bullshit talks too. This beach brought back many memories. It was where we boarded for our boat party. Looking back at that moment when something begun.

It was now 3pm and we wanted to head to Platja De Bosa. Actually we both were ready to collapse and came to an agreement that we should nap for hours. 5pm and now we are ready. The journey to that side of the island again brought back sweet memories. From Ibiza town to Platja Den Bosa passing through the last apartment I stayed in. I have only been back to the island for less than 23 hours but all my feelings & love has all came back. I now officially miss everything!!

As the night fall, most fellow hosteller wanted to hit the clubs again. There was no way I could do it any further. Honestly I could have if that certain source of energy was here. 8D . I said goodnight to everybody and hit the sack.

Day 45

That sleep last night was definitely needed. I feel so fresh. Today I have booked myself into a hotel room for ( nights in San Antonio. It is also the day the love of my leave is closing at Ushuaia. Coincidentally Mr Norway, alright his name is Stig also has a room booked in San Antonio. Having him around was good, he did all the research for me and I had to do was follow him. He pointed me in the correct direction to my Hotel.

Checked in and all I wanted to do was scream!! It was my own room with two twin beds and my OWN BATHROOM! Heaven on earth!! I never wanted to leave this room. After more than a month sharing with people, I was so happy to have my privacy. The privacy where I can do anything in the room without having anyone watch me.

I made my way down to Ushuaia where I would now be reunited with my loveeee. Boy'd did he know how to mess with my heart. He certainly spun me around us circles but I loved it. Pity this place closed at midnight. We headed to Space as per norm. All the rooms were open and it was crowded. It wasn't the same and the crowd was so wrongTOWN! If you approach someone and they ignore you doesn't that mean F OFF?! There was no way I wanted to hang in this place any longer and called it a night. We disco bused it back and hit the sack. 

Day 46

All I wanted today was to stay in bed. I was at the most laziest point of my life. LOL. Unfortunately I had made plans to meet Stig for the famous San Antonio sunset. I love sunsets but at the same time I loved being in bed and not move. I kept Stig waiting for awhile cause it was such an obstacle to get up.

I have seen countless sunsets over the past 2 months. It wasn't the best one but it was amazing. It's incredible how we all share the one sun but it paints a different picture for everyone. We couldn't see the sun properly drop because it was cloudy but the colours it created was again breathtaking. In an instant the sun was gone and it was now dark. We were heading to Privilege to catch Armin & Dash and a nap was called upon. We separated and made plans to meet later.

The memories of Privilege can be described with the word 'bleh (sticks tongue out)' however it was still a night that played apart during my time-of-my-life period. I had pretty low expectation which by the time I got there I was blown away. The appearance of the place was different and I could say the crowd in this place as been the best so far. I was left alone peacefully. Armin was good but Dash Berlin knew how to get me!!! 5am and I was ready to call OVER it.

It was time to say 'Goodbye' to Stig. He had a morning ferry. Goodbyes are always a depressing moment, I can't even recall how many times I have said on the trip so far. It has come to a point where no farewells has been said and before I know it they have already left. Their hostel bed is empty. I expected to be dooffing on my own on this island but I was lucky to have met Stig. It was a pleasure and I sure did have a good time. 

Day 47

Bed day! #eat #sleep #repeat

Day 48

I really haven't moved out of my room and the only time I did was to go get food. My body was frozen and the process in getting up was long. I needed to make myself useful and beach it for a few hours before another night at Ushuaia for Departure. Tonight's the night I finally rage on my own. I have never done these things solo but it's definitely worth a try considering it is easier to find the Calafati's space solo.

The whole San Antonio was massacred with all Geordie looking lads & birds. It was like I was in my own Geordie Shore reality show. This breed of people gave me a very unsafe vibe. I felt as if I didn't want to be on the streets especially at night alone. I felt as of they are a bunch of people that would pick fights for no sole reason and the only thing they are good at is getting intoxicated at all hours of the day. We all should know what too much alcohol can lead to.

As per usually, more distraction and Calafati finally made her way to Ushuaia by 9pm. Just enough time to catch Thomas Gold and Axwell. It felt a little strange going solo. It was less packed that last time. It took me awhile to settle myself in and find my space. Eventually I did and had the best view. I was up on a pillar and Axwell right on my straight view. As much as It would have been nice to share this experience with someone I still managed to have fun on my own raving. In a blink of an eye it was over. Music has changed my life so much lately. It's always depressing whenever coming to an end of someone's set. Another night was over for Calafati.

Day 49

I am in blanks on what I did on my last night in Ibiza. I can recall myself being over this place. 7 nights here may just be a little too much or maybe this area of the island was no longer getting me anymore. I didn't want to do anything. I probably spent most of my day lazing in bed and making the most out of this room to myself. It is the first time in almost two month having some decent privacy. I had a ticket to go Space tonight but was not feeling it. This day was devoted to my so called 'me time', where everyday was like this back at home. I might be getting a little home sick right now.

I am hoping Barcelona will bring me back up to level.

See you there!

xoxo

calafati

Valencia, Spain

Day 39

I had my alarm set for 9am, assuming my train was at 10:45am. I was now leaving Madrid,  heading down to Valencia. The alarm goes off and instantly something in my head is telling me my train is at 9:45am. My instincts was right because I remember telling a fellow hosteller I needed to get up around 7ish for my 9ish train. I froze and was so certain I was going to miss it. I tossed and turned in deciding whether or not to attempt to make it. OK! I will try. In a hurry I brushed my teeth and got dressed. Bags straight on the back and I run right through reception cutting the queue yelling out 'I have no time to check out'.

Off I went straight to the near by metro station. Thankfully this line goes straight to the station I needed to be. OMG! I made it and had 15 minutes to spare. How is this even possible my head is chanting. Once on the train I quickly dozed off.

I arrived in Valencia. I don't know why but I didn't want to make my way to the hostel. I stationed myself at the one spot and sat down. After unknown hours I figured I should make my way to the hostel before the rain comes. The journey to the hostel was some kind of an experience. I was on the same street walking up and down countless time. It took about 1.5 hours to find this place. I should really give up using maps to find my location because it seems to take longer than winging it.

I really felt like I needed some mellow time for awhile. I needed some 'Me Time' that I usually get back home. I chose to spend my time at this hostel like I was at home.

I ended up spending the night with a fellow hosteller named Stef. It is not a surprise but shes Australian from Sydney. We spent the night drinking beers down stair at the local restaurant, blabbing on aboit anything. We both learned we will be doing the dame Oktoberfest camping tour.  We were both doing it solo and agree that it feels good to know we have each other now. Hopefully out request for bunking together will be approved. That was it for the day.

Day 40

I needed to make full use of the day. Breakfast and out the door I went. I know that I am not a typical sightsee'r, in fact I am not a big fan of it. The only time I have gone to see famous landmarks are because I have been travelling with friends. Compare to all the other continents I have been too, Europe brings in a different feel. I get the urge to the beauty and amazing history of Europe.

I ended up seeing quite a lot of land marks. There seem to be something on every corner in the city centre. I found myself at the Torres de Serranos, Torres de Quart, Mercado Central, Catedral and Basilica. As per usually I found myself at a wifi spot for a few hours before I made it back to the Hostel.

I ended the night early as it was a 5am wake up call for La Tominata tomorrow. 

Day 41

"La Tominata"

5am rise, shower and breakfast. The hostel had breakfast set up earlier than usual. The whole place was occupied with people participating. Majority of them were fellow Aussies. The prices for the stay was jacked up to during this period with a minimum of three night stay.

As I made my way to the central station to catch the organised buses to Bunol. A small town where the annual event is held. It was certainly weird to see crowds of people walking the streets at this time.

I arrived. There was a DJ spinning tunes and numerous bars pouring alcohol. It was only 8am and people was already hitting the drinks and floor. This year for the first time, you needed to pay to participate. They say it was to control the number of participants but I believe they know people would pay, so why not make some money out of it. 

The line to collect the wristband took about 30 minutes, next it was the cloaking line which took about 1 hour 30 minutes. I managed to be adopted by a group of Americans while waiting in line, how lucky am I? LOL. One quick Mojito before we head up to town. 10:40am and the heavy rain starts pouring in, how convenient minutes before the 11am ham climb. 

We're gonna be soaked by tomatoes sooner or later, so why not just bare the heavyyyy rain. 10:50am, we decided to bolt up to the entrance of town. We failed finding the perfect spot in town because as soon as we stepped through the entrance, a truck load of tomato was unloading. We were running late. Oops. The crowd cheered and jumped as it unloaded. We didn't get enough time to find the right spot in town. 

Apparently right in the centre of the town is where a ham is hung high on a pole. The pole is covered in oil. At 11am hundreds of people would tackle the pole hoping to grab hold of the ham. Once the ham is taken off the pole the tomato trucks begin to unload. 

The crowd quickly ducked down and scooped as much tomatoes they could grab with both hands. The tomatoes were shaped like the Italian ones, where back at home they are a little expensive. You'd expect the tomato to be soft and juicy but juicy as they were inside, it was hard as rock. I could already see the bruises I will get from this. Who cares right? Lets fight.

It didn't matter whether you were standing or squatting or even hiding. Tomatoes were flying left, right and centre. There was no way you could avoid, you are bound to be hit. It started off with hard tomatoes thrown at you, followed by soft as people learnt to squeeze it before throwing it. In the end the whole ground was flooded with tomato juice. It felt like stepping into puddles when it rained but thicker. Time after time everyone would take a break by dancing and chanting. Numerous trucks full of people would drive past and we would all target them on the truck. 

I think a whole hour is a little too dragged on because I was over it within 30 minutes. I gave it another 10 minutes and squeezed out of the middle onto the side walk far away. I was still getting hit while spectating. No one is free! And then it was over. I was drenched with tomato from head to toe and the worse was having chunks of it in your hair. Everyone was on the hunt for water to flush off all the tomatoes. Locals suddenly appeared outside their houses with hoses and people were taking their turn to be washed off. 

The weather wasn't warm at all, which made the wetness of my clothes cold. I had clean clothes and a towel back in my bag and headed down to the cloak room to grab it. The line didn't look as long as this morning. The line was deciving, I ended up in the line for 2.5 hours freezing my ass off waiting for my bag. They had poor organisation of cloaking. Bags weren't place in correct spots. They ended up asking us to go into the room and look for our own bags. People had things missing out of their bags and some even had their bag missing. I was starting to get paranoid but luckily it was there. Phewwwww. 

After all this waiting around for little things I was now totally OVER it! I am glad to have this ticked off my bucket list but I would definitely not do it again. All I wanted to do right now was to have a hot shower and snuggle up in bed. It was now raining heavily and most people were getting ready for the after party but not for me. I am exhausted out. 

Day 42

My enthusiastic attitude has finally died down. After travelling for more than a month, there was no way I could brace myself to do things every single day. I was exhausted out and needed a proper time out. I spent most of the morning and afternoon lazing around at the hostel with no plans at all. It is funny how even when your not doing anything, time still flies by very fast. 

I wanted to do a flamingo dinner and show tonight, however the tickets were all sold out. I checked out the prices for something similar to this in Barcelona but it was 2 times the price. I guess this would be something I would do on my next adventure to Spain where money isn't an issue.

I ended up on a date with my roommate Lucy. She's from the UK. We both were lazing around all day and thought it was time to get off our asses and do something, even if it was for a walk. We had no idea where we going but it was good. We walked and talked a lot. It was time for dinner. How we chose what to eat was hilarious, we both had something in our head we wanted to eat. Its rare to find someone to share the same liking in foods. It was agreed we both wanted Paella for dinner and most places only offer it on the menu with a minimum of two person. We both paused for a second and asked each other how we liked our Paella. Sometimes its hard to tell someone you don't know what you like, just incase they don't fancy it the same as you. I slowly spoke out the words seafood and she instantly said YES! Our menu was sorted.

Lucy recommended a local restaurant that she has been to twice already since being in Valencia. She said the people there was very accommodation. We sat down and immediately ordered our Paella and don't forget the jug of Sangria. It was the first time I have seen Sangria made from scratch, I didn't realise there was so many things added to it. I think it should be called 'the trash drink". I was so excited to down this drink. As we paid for the bill, we were giving a small bottle of after dinner liquor. We were told that it was home made. It was infused with citrus however left a liquorice aftertaste which I hate.

I needed to end the night with some kind of sweet after such a good night of talks and food. I walked past a busy ice cream stall. There was like a million flavours to pick from which made  my decision even harder. I already have a hard time choosing things. I was bedazzled that there was such flavour called Hello Kitty. I wonder what it taste liked. I ended up with tiramisu and coconut.

This was our night in Valencia. It was time to pack as I am heading over to Ibiza for some beach life.

See you soon.

xo 

calafati