teneriffic

so, barcelona was nice and all, but the canaries are..teneriffic!
we left our hostel at 2am for a bus to girona where we caught a 6 am flight to tenerife, to a bus that took us to the south of the island.. and after eating again finally, and sleeping a bit finally, we went out to enjoy the beach!! its volcanic sand, dark grey and rather nice. its our first sandy beach, so we are making the most of it. the waters warm enough to swim, and here are a few waves..
unfortunately kate is still really feeling icky, so we mainly take it easy. i feel alot better now.. made it through the last night with both lungs in place, thats a good change!
we´ll be here two more nights, then the capital a night, then back to spain.. we just havent decided where yet. we´ll probably be cutting our trip short, because of health mainly.

ich hab grad erst angefangen, mich entspannen zu koennen und nicht staendig an arme leute und tod zu denken (obwohl es kommt noch manchmal durch).. ich koennte gut den ganzen zwei monate gebrauchen. ich verstehe dass sie viel im kopf hat und nach hause will, und es hilft nicht, dass sie dauernd krank ist... aber ich brauche die zeit. ich weiss nicht was ich machen soll. den eurail pass werd ich noch haben, aber ich kann mir den hostels und so nicht leisten. vorschlaege und einladungen nehme ich gern entgegen.

montpellier, cerber, und weiter

nachdem nice so toll war, muesste einen tiefpunkt kommen.
aber esw war nicht in montpellier! wir sind zur alex und marie sokoblahsoweiter gefahren, freunde die ich vom convoy kannte. damals hab ich gewusst ich mag die beiden, obwohl wir wenig reden konnten. inzwischen haben beide (aber besonders marie) viel englisch gelernt, und wir konnten uns richtig austauschen. es war echt schoen. kate und ich wuessten schon beim ankunft, dass unser zeit in montpellier viel zu kurz sein wird.
am ersten abend sind wir mit dennen zur (deutsche) freunde gefarhren zum (mexikanisch) essen. am naechsten tag gabs denn gourmet essen (wer die beiden kennt kanns nachempfinden) und ne stadt besichtigung. leider waren kate und ich ab dem nachmittag dann beide krank.. dass hielt auch an als wir weiter fuhren..
nach cerber und portbou, die grenz doerfer. wieso wir dahin wollten? unwissenheit, eine n zug plan, und wikipedia. wir landeten aber im langweiligste ferien dorf jemals. ok zur krank sein, mehr nit. aber es hatte auch highlights- der shop besitzer dort was luestig und lieb wie ne onkel oder so zu uns. da bliebeb wir tatzaechlich (und leider) zwei naechte.
heute sind wir aber in barcelona angekommen. uns gefaellt es naturlich wesentlich besser hier!! endlich wieder menschen und moeglichkeiten. unser reservation im hostel im 8 betten zimmer gijng verlorn, also muesten die uns leider einen 2 bett zimmer geben.. ;-D danach waren wir paella essen. und schlaffen. wir sind immer noch und noch schlimmer krank beide. der hostel ist aber geil.. gratis essen morgans und abends und internet.
in fuenf tage fliegen wir dann nach teneriffe!!!!

nice Nice

we are now in Nice, on the southern coast of france. and oh man, is it nice. [note:lowercase nice to be read as "good" and uppercase as the city] we got in last night and were greeted by the most friendly staff ever (although it is at times rather tooo nice..) and brought up to this old convent thing in the hills of Nice. the chapel, in all its stained glass wonder is the meeting room..

there were a few problems... we didnt fit in the car they sent to pick us up at the foot of the hills at the bus stop, so i had to wait there for him to come back. then i had to go on errands with him since it was the last chance before the weekend, this being ascention day. but the guy was nice, and bought me a pastry since it was late and we hadnt had lunch. and for dad: he drove a great bwm, britisch steering.and checking in, they didnt have our reservation on file, so it's a good thing we had a copy. they gave us free dinner to accomodate and chaged us from the 12 bed dorm into a 6 bed staff room. the security guard shartes it, and sleeps days, so our stuff is safe.

today we went into town and walked the coast and harbor. its a rocky beach, and the stones make an increadible sound as they are pushed and pulled by the waves. the sea is a very light turquise blue towards the coast, and a bit out turns to the deepest of blues. this contrast is amazing. we also went to the flower market and old town. thats about it for today, the busses werent running much and it was impossible to go anywhere. but on the bus to town we met a cool american couple and spent the day with them. (oh, and he just finished school.. film..)

does anyone still read these? i have fairly regular internet, so far, so feel free to comment or to email me!! love from the coast

photos

backpackers way

kein bock zu uebersetzen...

so, in true backpacker style, soon after writting my last blog entry, we checked out our plans for hostels for the next week, and decided we dont like them. we also got an email asking us to visit a friend two days later than planned. so, instead of moving on today to genova as planned, or florence as we had thought of (no hostel rooms available) we immediately picked up our backpacks and boarded a train for switzerland. hey, why not? so we are in a small swiss village visiting my friend sibe, and enjoying that life can be very easy-going. its a good break from the loud hostels and the jam-packed tourist cities. she made us an awesome dinner with lotsa veggies. otherwise we have been reading alot, and being quiet. and walking. nicenice. i want to upload some pics, but she doesnt havea card reader :-/

milano

bonjourno aus milano!
gestern war sibe aus der switz da und hat uns am bahnhof abgeholt und geholfen, unsere versteckter herberge zu finden.. then we went out to see the dom cathedral- where a service was in progress! and had coffee.
the hostil is.. well.. not as nice as the one in venice..
today we went to visit the chiesa christiana evangelica stadera, the church of roby and rose roberts (my parents friends since decades). unfortunately, after such a long trip and a brisk jog to get there, they were out of town. but i did see their son daniel, who looked exactly like he did the last time i saw him (when i was 8 and he younger..) he recognised me, too..
the highlight though was meeting an american lady who sold everything she owns to move to italy and become a christian filmmaker. we called her the gratzi gramma. she showed us a great italian-chineese-south american food place, and we talked a long time about film, italy, and life. i really liked her and will plan to stay in tougùch (not only because she owns her own studio with all the filmmakers toys..)
tommorro we will go to......
? maybe genova, maybe florence.. maybe switzerland....
:-) thats the backpackers life

milano

wir sind in milano, und es ist schoen time up

venedig

WOW
kann ich es nochmal betonnen? W O W.
sehr schoener stadt, sehrschoenes wetter, sehr schoene maenner... ;-) nur ein spass..
es ist fast zu viel um bloggen zu wollen.. ich komme hier gutzurecht, waere nur gern reich!! hab ne tolle lampe gesehen.. nur660e...usw mittagessen heut- 48e!!
segen

weg.

ok, wir fliegen morschn fruh..
dass heisst ich bin weg. wer mich/ uns erreichen mag, bitte per email..
oder sms unter: 0176-68267380 (name dabei nicht vergessen, wir haben keine nummern eingespeichert!)

the gear

ah, yes.. every good backpacking trip around europe begins with the right companions. i was pretty sure already that kate and i were a good fit, but today a new member joined our journey: gregory chaos. he's a sturdy fellow, well built and quite a looker. he's strong and reliable, and wont bog us down. and he is rather cute, isnt he?

the amazing thing is: i can carry it, packed, without strain to my back!! we tested this.. for hours.. while kate waited.. she had a nap on a camping cot while i spent the last few hours deciding what i wanted to take home with me. we made it up by celebrating a halfway sucessful cuban night. we left out the cigars, and unfortunatly, the film we got turned out to not be in englisch.. oops.. but the food at the local haba cubana was great.