Day 38 Travelling to Madrid

My night in the hotel was wonderful after the night before! I slept in this morning as I didn't have to leave until 10am. I got the bus to the airport and by the time I got through security had only half an hour before boarding. I had Maccas and discovered they serve beer! I didn't expect that! I don't drink it, I was just surprised. The flight was short and we landed in Madrid 20min prior to the scheduled time. I'm beginning to think some European airlines actually put arrival times later than the actual flight time as this was not the first time this happened. Anyway, it took me 3 trains to reach the station near my hostel but I made it. This place seems to be in the middle of lots of action (the streets are full of people) but the hostel itself seems quiet. It is technologically advanced using a fingerprint as your room key!

I decided to go walking the streets and find the supermarket. I also found the Mercado de San Miguel, a popular foodies place. Not a market in the sense we know it but a place with a stack of food & drink vendors selling small probs of food to eat there. I had dinner there. Mozzarella on bread with tomato, rocket, smoked ham, onion jam & balsamic vinegar followed by fried calamari & limonade (think maybe it was more like a white sangria type drink) followed by churros with hot chocolate  then I had a strawberry coffee. Now I'm super fat & need one of those siestas to recover lol.

Day 37 Chocolate factory, cava winery & Montserrat

After my appalling night I vowed to find a hotel for tonight and that's what I did at breakfast. Then I picked up my rental car (a tiny midget car called a Smartfortwo).

I headed out of town to the Simon Coll chocolate factory. I could smell it walking along the street & it smelled amazing. Then I went a few blocks away to the Freixenet cava winery. Cava is the Spanish version of champagne. It turns out that this winery is bigger than Moet! They can store 140 million bottles! I have heard of this stuff but never tried it. We did the tour and saw how they make it. Interestingly they use the French method. The only difference is the type of grapes they use. We went for a tasting and had the Brut nature & Elysee reserve. Both were very good. And according to Dan Murphy's they are cheap for imported wine! $10-17 a bottle, depending on the variety. I bought a bottle of the Ice Rosa (sweet sparkling rose) to drink tonight.

Next I headed to Montserrat, a mountain top monastery. It was quite cold by the time I got there. I went to enquire about the funiculars to the top of the maintain to go to the good lookouts but was told they are not working until March. You can hike, she says, but it's 1.5hrs! Pass! I literally only went for the views as this is what I knew it for and the only things you can see without hiking are a museum & church. I left not long after and headed back to Barcelona.

I went back to the hostel, packed, checked out and went to find my hotel. I paid good money for a good sleep tonight so I hope this hotel meets my expectations! I went out and found a place that serves paella to single people and had some dinner. It was good paella (chicken not seafood) although I heard the hotel receptionist telling a guy checking in that the paella around here is 'tourist paella' and if he wanted a real one he had to go to the port.

After dinner I had booked a ticket to a flamenco show. Just a short 30min show with a discount coupon. Well I clearly had the wrong impression of what flamenco dancing is! The singing sounded very Arabic to me & the dancing was mostly tap dancing. I was expecting those big can can coloured skirts and that type of dancing & singing! It was good though. Each type of dance obviously tells a story although they didn't explain the dancing to us.

Then I went back to my hotel as I had a date with my bath! Right now I'm laying in a warm bubble bath, drinking my cava, eating a block of bubbly caramello Milka chocolate writing this. After last night this is exactly what I need.

Tomorrow I head to the airport and fly to Madrid. I have 2 days there before I go to Dubai on Monday night. Can you believe it's been almost 5.5 weeks? It's Friday here. In exactly 7 days I begin my long trip home. This second half of my trip has gone soooo fast! I wish I was back in the arctic though. I really loved those places! I will move to Iceland, Finland and Norway in a heartbeat. Just need lots of money & a brilliant niche hotel idea to build!

Day 36 Barcelona

Today I explored Barcelona. I got a 10 trip public transport ticket then made my way out to Park Guell. All I knew was it is a park that has views over the city and odd buildings from some guy named Gaudi. When I got there I discovered the 'main parts' cost money while the rest of the park is free. I paid and headed in. Once I walked to the main entrance I saw some buildings.  They kind of look like cartoon buildings and that thry belong in a gingerbread house cartoon or something. I headed up the stairs to the terrace.  There is an undercover part below the terrace with domed ceilings. It was cool. Upstairs the view over the city was good. I headed back down & out, having seen all the things in the paid area.

Next on my list was Sagrada Familia. All I knew here was that it is a huge unfinished church. Upon arrival I found out that it was actually designed by Gaudi and he wanted it to look like a forest inside. So I got an audio guide and started exploring. It is an incredible building. Absolutely massive and incredibly detailed. When I went inside I was blown away. It was incredible. I despise religion and only go to churches if they are a tourist attraction. Even then I don't spend much time in them. But the Sagrada Familia.....WOW! I could spend hours in there, just looking at everything. The stained glass windows created this stunning rainbow inside the building as the sun was starting to set. The pillars are the treesamd the roof is just gorgeous. I spent ages wandering and taking photos. Thry edict to complete the whole building in 2026 and a trip to see the entire thing is definitely a must! I wish that one day I would hedge enough money too has m find a designer to design & build me a Gaudi forest hone, just like Sagrada Familia! I'm seriously in love 😍💖

Next I went to Casa Mila (Gaudi building) for external photos then to Casa Batllo. This is anther Gaudi building that you can go inside. Your entrance fee gives you an augmented reality audio guide. Each room you go to, you hold the screen up and you can see each room decorated in the original manner (paintings, furniture etc). The place has almost no straight lines and is just incredible. This one looks like an undersea home which is enhanced by the AR screen. Absolutely fascinating.

Then I headed back to my hostel to rest for a bit. They give free dinner at 8.30pm so I had that then chilled in my room. By 11.15pm I knew it was going to be a looooong night. The other guests were so loud. It was sooo painful. I had a migraine and just wanted also but no. One girl from my room kept knocking on the door to be let in as she lost her key card. Then she was noisy as hell & bringing others into the room while she was in there. Then at 1.50am she stumbled in, somehow got to her top bunk then proceeded to vomit over the side of her bed all over the floor of our room. So frigging gross! Another girl in our room got someone from reception. The guy and a random guy got the girl off the bed and dragged her to the toilets and left her there. Then it took the guy like 20mins to clean up. I was so furious! I didn't sleep until about 4am. Not happy!

Day 35 Colosseum & Roman forum

Today I treated myself to a slow day. I saw most of what I planned to see the other day so the only places on my list were the Colosseum and the Roman forum. I slept until 9am! I bought tickets online then headed pout about 10am. Since I already had a ticket I went straight through security and into the Colosseum, no lining up at all! It's massive. I guess the visitors all stood to watch events when it was a functioning venue as there were no seats. Tourists can access 2 levels and special groups can access the underground parts and 2 upper levels. It is very well preserved. It was cool. 

 

Next I headed across the road to the Roman forum as tickets included access to this place as well. I had to queue for security here but it was only short. I knew nothing about this place, I went as it was free :) it is a huge place. First I went up a hill to see the palaces up there. There isn't a lot left of many of these ruins. Certainly not enough that I would have called them palaces. Then I went to a lookout to oversee the ruins. It was soooo windy! The view was great though. 

I went down to the ground level and walked around for a whole. Some of these are in good condition, others are falling apart. I saw the place where Ceasar was cremated and a temple built on the site and the temple of Saturn. 

Afterwards I went out into the street and walked around. I discovered I was at the Piazza Venezia which I was at the other day. All the sights in Rome are so close together! The building at the Piazza is huge! I like the horses and chariot sculptures on top. I find a highly rated Italian restaurant on Google and decided to head there. Unfortunately they were 'full' inside & out (many empty tables.....) so I walked around and found somewhere cheaper & would accept me. I had a strange yellow carbonara. The lady told me it is because they use scrambled eggs...it was pretty average and not like any carbonara I've had before. I did have a caprese salad as well though and it was very good. I went to an alcohol shop and got some small bottles of local made liquor including 2 types of limoncello. Then I got myself another gelato (nutella and strawberry this time) before heading back to my hostel. 

Tomorrow I have a very early flight to Baarcelona so I spent the rest of the afternoon repacking (silly 20kg suitcase limits!) and chilling. Soon I'm going to get my free dinner. I have to admit I haven't been overly impressed with the Italian food here. I think it is very hit and miss as to where you go. Oh well. No pasta when I get home so getting my fix in now, crap or not.

Day 34 Pompeii & Naples

My plan for today was to travel down to Vesuvius and climb it then head to Pompeii to explore the ruins. Unfortunately the weather was crap and the top of Vesuvius was covered in clouds. I headed straight for Pompeii instead. I made my way to the ruins and started wandering. The only thing I knew about the place was that the eruption in 79 AD wiped out the town. So as it turns out, what you see now is not original. When Pompeii was discovered in the 1700-1800's people started to rebuild the town. Then the town was bombed in the war and the town was destroyed. People began to rebuild after that and that is what you see. I don't know what is real and what is not. Are the paintings the real deal or a reproduction based on something else? I admit, my thoughts on the place changed when I discovered it wasn't the real ruins. Walking around you can go into some areas, followed by a security member and others are fenced off. Most are fenced off actually. The mosaic tile floors are nice (original?) and the marble kitchens were beautiful. Ancient purple seem to have an obsession with naked bodies. There were quite a few painting of naked men & women & upon googling painting of Pompeii, I found out that there were MANY erotic paintings discovered including sex with animals, threesomes, gay and a variety of positions. It seems to be a much more open topic back then tha than it is now. There was a white sculpture with a HUGE penis and a copper sculpture of a man with a big one too.

I find the main areas tourists visit and there I saw lots of urns and other recovered items. There are also the plaster casts of the bodies of a male, child & dog.

After  a couple of hours I left and went back to Pompei (the town) and walked around. There is not much to see at all.

I went and waited at the train stain for my train back to Naples. While there a black man tried to make conversation which I tried to shut down. He left but when the train came he followed me into the train and sat behind me! I put headphones in and after a while he tried to get my attention.  He said he was talking to me but I wasn't talking back. No shit, I've got noise cancelling headphones for a reason buddy! He said he likes to have friends everywhere. I told him I'm listening to music and ignored him. When we got to Naples I made sure I went three other way to him!! Creepy! He is an immigrant from Africa to Italy. I'm most definitely not interested in friends or whatever else he had in mind!

It was raining in Naples when I arrived. Three tourist info lady gave me a map & suggested some street to walk around & to ensure I watched my belongings closely. I very quickly discovered Naples is a very dirty, disgusting & busy place. I had wet feet very quickly and learned it isn't a touristy place. There were no souvenir shops or anything, just normal local shops. I walked around for an hr before heading back to the train station. I got Burger King as I was in desperate need of some comfort food and then got the train back to Rome.

Day 33 Rome

My tour was due to start at 8am so I had to be up super early to get the train there. We first headed into the Vatican museum entry and gained entry. Then we stopped for a while so our guide could explain the Sistine chapel and it's paintings. Inside the chapel is complete silence so she had to explain early. Interestingly, Michelangelo was blackmailed into painting the roof by the Pope! It took him 6yrs to paint. We went outside to see the dome of St Peter's Basilica before going in to a gallery full of art. Some of it was painted directly onto wood. The change in technique was obvious as a painter aged and between the different eras. Then there was a room full of tapestries. Many of them were made from actual silver and gold thread. They were huge!

After that we walked through some other galleries and saw tons of scupltures & relics (vases, urns etc). There were some very ornate coffins that looked like bath tubs!

We went to the Etrusian gallery which has a collection of Etrusian artifacts (people in Rome before Romans). They made incredibly delicate & beautiful gold headpieces (real gold) for the dead bodies. What a waste lol! You make this beautiful headband and out it in the ground, never to be seen again!

Next we joined everyone else in the Vatican (my tour had VIP sections). The rule is that you stop on the right, you walk on the left. My guide told a Chinese tour group leader off for not doing that as his huge group was blocking the walkway! They had some paintings in there of maps of Italy, made back in the BC era which are 90% accurate.

We then joined everyone in the Sistene chapel. So, no talking and absolutely NO photographs. The guards yell at you of they catch you. I thought it was a strange rule, considering everywhere else in the Vatican you can take pictures and videos. But my guide explained that in 1988-1993 (I think that's right) the Vatican got a Japanese restoration company in to clean the roof. The company were not paid in money, instead the Vatican gave them copyright privileges. Therefore since it is now copyrighted  you cannot take photos or videos. I did see a ton of people both openly talking photos or covertly taking photos. It is amazing that it took Michelangelo 6yrs to paint the massive roof but 10yrs to paint the front wall behind the alter.

Lastly we went to St Peter's Basilica. It is the lingest church in the world & they put names & lengths of others churches on the floor to prove it. While I despise all religion I can admire the architectures and this church is so ornate and full of marble. They even have a real body of a pope on display. They said he is a miracle as they dug him up after 40yrs and discovered he had no signs of decomp so they put him on display. Thry claim that is his second miracle (first was aone lady on crutches went to see him for a blessing and he healed her & she walked out without crutches) which makes him a saint and saints get out into the alters at the church. All the others go underground in the tombs. Oh and there is not a single painting in St Peter's Basilica. None! Every single one is actually a tile mosaic! I couldn't believe it but up close you can see it. It took 100yrs to build the Basilica and I can see why.

Our tour finished & myself and another girl decided to climb the dome of the Basilica. It was 463 steps to the top. Yep, more steps! The views at the top were amazing though.

Next I left, saw a Swiss Guard (terrible uniform!) then headed to the Castel Sant'Angelo. I took photos from the outside then continued to Piazza Navona. After a look I confined to the Pantheon. It was free to enter so I had a look inside. Nice but I'm getting over the churches now lol.

Next was Trevi Fountain. I thought it would be busy and it turned out to be chock-a-block! I took photos and left, deciding to come back at night when it might be quieter. I went to a highly recommended gelato shop, Giolitti. It was amazing! Raspberry gelato, nutella gelato and whipped cream. The nutella one tasted almost like nutella from the jar, not icecream!

Next I went to Largo Torre Argentina to see the ruins and the cats. There is a colony of cats that live there and are now being cared for by some volunteers. I got to play with the cats and got a tshirt to support them.

After that I went back to my room as my feet were killing me. I had dinner in the bar (more free pasta) then headed back out. I went and took night photos of the colosseum, piramide, St Peter's Basilica, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain.

Then I went back to my room as I had to be up early to go to Vesuvius and Pompeii in the morning.

Day 32 Pisa

This morning after a late night frantic email, my ticket to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa came through, giving me 30mins to pack, dress and get to the tower. Yikes! Fortunately my hostel was a 3min walk to the tower so I made it with 5 mins to spare. I was first in the queue! When 9am hit they body scanned us and let us up. It is such an impressive sight from the outside. It is actually a hollow cylinder with a staircase winding around the outer wall to the top and a completely hollow centre. It is completely made of marble and is beautiful. I found the climb up, and noticeably more on the down, very disorienting due to the tilt & the uneven stairs. I finally made it to the first level (bloody ancient people & their stairs!) and the view was amazing. After walking around I though the guard was shepherding up to the exit (your time in the tower is timed) but it was another staircase! This one much skinnier and even more wonky and went to the top. Even more amazing views! We wandered around and checked out the big bells. I wondered to myself if they actually ring. A few minutes later an announcement came on and it was a warning that the bells would ring at the end of the message. I made my way to the middle of the bells & got ready to film. I was wondering how loud they would be.....I shit myself when they started! Holy moly they were loud & I jumped a mile! It was pretty awesome though being surrounded by 7 ringing bells.

After I took some more photos I headed down, slowly. It's so weird because on one half of the spiral you are tilted inwards, then you go half a turn around the tower and you are tilted outwards. By the time I got to the bottom my legs were shaking!

I went back to my hostel to collect my backpack and went out walking the streets. I had no plans, I just wandered aimlessly. I checked out the cannabis shop where they sell cannabis chocolate, lollypops, cookies, drinks & smoking cannabis. It has 0.2% THC so it doesn't give you a high apparently. I did NOT buy anything in case you were wondering. My 100% illicit drug free status is intact! I walked along the shopping strip for a while, went back to the tower for more photos then found a restaurant for lunch. I had a steak as apparently they are famous. It was not too bad but gave me a protein boost which I was severely lacking.

After lunch I collected my luggage then made my way back to the train station, stopping along the way to pick up a jar of truffle cream.

I got the train to Rome in the afternoon which is where I will spend the next few days.