Ok so I was hungover last posting, because I had a date the night before when I was in Nice. So how that happened was when I got off the train from Paris to Nice I was starving as I didn´t have any cash with me on the train and they didn´t take credit so I just ate my trail mix and water. So across from the train station I went to get some food. I went to this market-sandwich place and was looking at the menu. The guy there asked if he could help me, I said I am just looking thanks. He said I am looking too, as he looked me up and down, so corny. So I raised my eyebrows and just ignored him. Long story short I got a wonderful delicious sandwich there, with him bugging me the whole time, saying not to go to the hostel and I could stay with him. I laughed said no thanks. He was attractive but had hairy arms, I know I am funny, I just don´t like hairy men. Anyway I left after eating my sandwich, went to my hostel and then the next day went sightseeing to all the amazing sights around the Mediteranean with my new Japenese friend, she was totally organized with all of these maps and itineraries, so I tagged a long with her the next day. It was a great hostel by the way. So the next day there were two more girls in my hostel room, Jackie from Australia, and gorgeous Florencia from Argentina. So I asked them to go with me to the market where I bought the worlds best pesto, so yummy!! I want to learn how to make pesto when I get back home. We went by the market where my admirer was and my new friends said he seemed harmless, just a little enamored of me. Which is not a bad thing, plus he didn´t even check out lovely Florencia which is amazing. So I said I would hang out with him the next night. Free food and drinks, a girl on a budget has to make some exceptions, as I do not enjoy dating even in America where they speak my language. So we hung out but he was way too intense and clingy. I do like a sexy French accent but I wasn´t attracted to him, but he did speak quite a bit of English and he was saying the best things, I am beautiful and kind. Ha I was wearing the same old clothes, no make up, hair slicked back in a ponytail. In France the men are crazy flirty, you walk down the street they grab your hand, kiss the top of it, say coffee, drink with me? It happened all the time so you kind of got used to it. Not such a hard life I am living. Anyway back to my date, I had had my nervous breakdown about my pics earlier that day, and so I was hanging out in his shop, drinking and waiting for him to get off work so we could go walk around Nice. All these cute guys kept coming in and talking to me as I was sittin up at the counter drinking, and he said "You are like flame and all these moths attracted come in to be by you and talk to you, but you are hanging out with me tonight, I will kill them if they try to take you from me." Wow buddy, a little too intense for me, long story short about my date, we walked around Nice, he was funny and entertaining but annoying as he asked me not go to Italy the next day and stay with him in Nice forever, or that he wanted to quit school and go with me on my travels. Yikes! After he walked me back to my hostel, he said he would help me with my pics the next morning, but I got up early and jumped on an earlier train to Italy as he was a little too obsessive for my liking.
Paris stories - When I arrived in Paris I was exhausted from lack of sleep as usual because I always end up chatting with someone. I took the subway to my hostel, transferring 3 times, my bags, my heavy bags.. So I get to my station and am on the street where my hostel is supposed to be but I can´t find it, some people are born with an internal compass, not me. My sister and Dad have it but my mom and I do not. So I have the sheet with the address on it but the street numbers aren´t making sense. I ask several people but everyone is speaking French and no one is helping me. This young boy was about 10-12 stylishly dressed, and reminds me of my nephew, comes up to me and I point to the address, he takes the paper and starts walking one way I follow him and he is confused too. He asks a couple people and they aren´t that helpful, we finally find my hostel, which he has walked all the way with me, there are about 35 stairs to get to the door. This young boy grabs my heavy suitcase from me and hauls it up the stairs. When we get to the top I say thank you, thank you and try to give him money. We haven´t been able to communicate this whole time and he wouldn´t take my money. He was so sweet and kind, it broke my heart. I went into the reception desk to check in and everyone in there had seen the nice boy help me and I just about lost it talking to them about it. So the nice receptionist placed me in my room and said even though it was closed time for cleaning, my room was already finished so I could go lay in there. I crashed for about four hours, with view of the Eiffel tower from my room. It was so lovely, sleep is a good thing.
Paris ·2 My german roommate and I were going to the subway and they clean the streets there with these big trucks and we got sprayed with all this water and dirt as there wasn´t anywhere for us to go to get out of the way, luckily at that time I didn´t know about the poop on the streets. I have found that although we can´t speak the same language that the international language is laughter. I have had so many good laughs with people here!
Ok most recent story from Barcelona where I am currently at. I took an overnight train from Italy to Barcleona and the train people did not wake the people on train up at our stop. So guy from Japan and I had this crazy adventure trying to get back to Port Bou so we could go to Barcelona. It all worked out fine but it was kind of crazy for a bit. Him and I had a nice chat, he was here with his family but he was going to travel for a week without them as his wife was visiting her family in England. He was very polite and respectful, easy to talk to, safe. So we get to Barcelona and he decides to stay at the same hostel as me. So we take the subway from the train and he is totally being a gentleman, carrying my heavy suitcase up and down stairs, his wife has him trained well. So we get to La Rambla which is this amazing, crazy street full of vendors and interesting people. It is about 9:30 in the morning and it is already packed, our hostel is only about 2 blocks from the main center of this big gathering spot. So we are walking along and these two men are holding hands and it seems wearing something strange. When they get closer they are actually naked and have painted their bodies. The one man was painted as an elephant, and his wiener was of course the trunk, and it was swinging around, just huge, past his knees, almost to the ground, and pierced at the end with a hoop. I couldn´t tell what the other guy was supposed to be, but he should have been embarrassed to be naked next to his boyfriends amazingly huge thing as he didn´t have hardly anything to show for himself. My mouth dropped open and my poor Japenese friend was beside himself. ¨"I am shocked, I am shocked", that would be illegal in Japan" he kept saying. I died laughing, it was so funny, also everyone´s expressions as they passed were priceless! It was sooo funny!! So on that funny note I will say Adios. I am going to get something to eat to absorb my Sangria from last night!! I leave Barcelona tomorrow for Portugal. I have many more stories and once I am in Malaga,Spain at the end of this wonderful birthday month for me I will write more. I have a lot from Italy too, I loved Italy so much, so beautiful there,the people so friendly, the little old men and women were wonderful. I stayed in a great hostel, nice new friends. So stay tuned!
Lots of love
