Well, the weekend after Morocco my study abroad group and I went to Granada. We stayed out all night on Thursday, and only went home to shower and grab our bags, then we met up to catch the bus. The bus ride to the south of Spain wasn't bad, but we went with a bunch of summer session students, so they were a bit more excited than our group. Regardless, Granada was amazing. For one, the tapas were free and delicious, and everything was just generally cheaper. There was a large Arabic corner of the city, so it was like a little taste of Morocco again. We spent most of the weekend in shisha bars and mojito joints, enjoying each others' company. We went to a rocky beach on Saturday, had some delicious fried fish, and on Sunday we went to La Alhambra, an enormous Arabic fortress overlooking the city. I stood in the room where Christopher Columbus asked permission to sail to the New World, and we spent a few solid hours touring the fort. We could have spent 6 more hours there, though. The sheer size of La Alhambra is impressive. Anyway, that was the first weekend.
The following week was spent [not] studying for final exams, and squeezing the last out of our time in Spain. I spent most of my time out with friends, be it in bars, hookah lounges, or just the Madrid streets. Exams went fairly well, easier than expected, to be sure. On Wednesday night, I went out to an awesome hookah bar to watch the World Cup, and ended up seeing a mini reggae concert as well. It was so peaceful. Breaking the peace, afterwards I had to literally run with Jose to the airport, because we were going on our Malta/Italy trip.
We got to the airport around 01:00 and waited around until 06:00 for our flight to Malta. We slept a solid hour and a half on the plane, and woke up on the tiny island nation. We only had a few hours there, so we got some coffee and kind of hiked around the big port city, Valletta. We took a boat across the harbor to Sliema, and took in some good Maltese culture, basically fudging our Maltese/Italian/Spanish/English communication skills. It was such a weird little country, but I definitely recommend it to any restless traveler. Anyway, with only 90 minutes of sleep in two days, we made it back to the airport for our flight to Pisa. I didn't get any sleep on the plane, it was kind of tough with screaming children behind me, but it was okay, I didn't feel as tired as I probably should have. Anyway, we landed in Pisa just after sunset and made our way to our hostel. It ended up being more like a guy's townhouse, but it was okay. We showered and then went out on the town to party [it was Pisa's patron saint's day, or so we think]. Sadly though, Italians just don't party like the Spanish do. Even less so, the people of Pisa. There was a small crowd at the city center, but by 23:00 everyone was either drunk or at home, and there were no decent bars or anything. If you ever plan on going to Pisa, make it a day trip, trust me. We went home pretty early, but it turned out alright, as we got some decent sleep that night.
So that was day one. On day two we got up and went to The Leaning Tower of Pisa, took the obligatory photos and then went to the train station. We went by rail to Firenze [Florence] and walked around the whole city. It was a pretty nice place, but I imagine it would be pretty expensive at night. We watched the US game and got some absolutely delicious pizza. In the evening, we hopped on the train back to Pisa, to catch our 06:00 flight to Alghero. We didn't realize, however, that we had a three-hour layover [do you say "layover" for train trips?] in the town of Empoli. It was only 22:00, so we figured "hey, let's find a bar and stay there until One." So we searched for a bar. We walked from one end of the town to the next. We walked to the corners. We went in circles. We couldn't find a singl-oh hey a bar. Wait. It's like a cafe. No, it's a bar, just really well-lit. Oh and everyone's wearing Gucci or better. So, Jose and I [sweaty and dirty and with our backpacks] went in. We ordered some beers ["Ugh you want beer?"] and felt generally awkward. We somehow managed to kill time before the next train to Pisa left, and eventually got back on it. We got to Pisa, got some extra-delicious kebab, and made our way to the airport to wait for our flight. Now, unlike many airports, the Pisa airport does not open its doors until 05:00 or so. So we slept outside in the cold wind and rain, in the grass outside of the main entrance. The towel came in handy as usual [I told you], it served as my blanket/pillow. We finally got into the airport before dawn and flew to Alghero, a city on Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean [Sicily is the biggest]. We walked around the port city looking for a nice beach to relax on. We found a little beach and stretched out. We started to doze off and then...
We woke up and there was a considerable amount of people around us, sunbathing and sleeping. We must have slept for three hours, but it was still only 11:00. We got some coffee, then went to another beach and swam in The Sea. Around 15:00 we took a bus to a northern cape, and walked down 654 steps from atop a cliff down to some grottoes right next to the water. It was definitely one of the craziest things I've ever seen. Nature was so raw there, the waves crashed hard against the rock, and it definitely reminded me how incredibly small we are. We climbed back up the stairs, which was a bit harder than going down, and caught the bus back to the airport. We flew back to Madrid and got some much needed sleep, in a bed this time.
Sunday was my last day overseas. I got up early, went to El Rastro again, and bought a bunch of shirts, flags and a cool knife for myself. I had a big lunch with my family, and packed everything back into bags. At night, I met up with almost all of my friends for our last night out. We went to some usual places, and enjoyed each others' company. I stayed out all night, only to come home, grab my bags and get to the airport. My flight home was fine, and it was nice to finally be back in the western hemisphere.
Epilogue
I miss Spain. Sunday night was really hard, saying goodbye to everyone. Sure, we may all see each other sometime in the future, but we'll never all be in the same place at the same time again, ever. I made really good friends there, and it hurt to know we all had to go our own ways. I suppose it always ends that way though, so there's no real use getting choked up about anything. I'll miss the cities and countries I've been to, especially Madrid, but they'll always be there. I can always go back and see that cathedral, or this tapas bar, see that bullfight, get those cheap drinks. What you can't get back are the things I have purposefully left out of this blog: the intimate conversations in the shisha bars, the feelings shared between all of my friends and I, the long nights becoming the longer mornings, the friendships made and the stories told. I didn't take a single photo of what I know I'll miss the most, because I know it wouldn't do the memory justice. I definitely miss everyone I met there, but I suppose it's best that way. I cherish the friendships that much more, knowing that they aren't so easy to come by. I do hope to return to Spain someday soon, perhaps to live for a while, but I'm not sure how or when. I also still want to travel the rest of the world, maybe I'll start a blog "On Living Abroad." Maybe not, perhaps it would be better to just keep my stories in my head, and make them that much more special by telling them at select times. I'm not so sure. I guess I've accomplished enough of my goals that I set in the beginning. I lived a bit more retro, and I definitely have unearthed more questions about myself than I have answered. I feel like I'm a global citizen, if you can ever even really be one, I'm definitely closer to my family, and I feel a bit more humble than before. Lastly, I definitely was proved wrong. I couldn't have predicted anything that happened, and I'm totally thankful for that. I learned that people are the same everywhere, that age does not equal experience does not equal wisdom. I met plenty of wise people who have been nowhere, and people who have been everywhere, yet still have a lot of learning to do. I guess I fall into the middle: I haven't been to too many places, and I have plenty to learn, for sure. My time abroad was hands-down the best time of my life, and I feel I have changed so much in the last three months. I'll miss being overseas, and it will be too long before I travel again. If I could give any advice, it would be to go do things [how poetic]. Seriously though, there is so much out there to be seen and done, why not explore? Why not try that sketchy bar down that alley? Why not eat that fish eye? Why not? Go out. Go live. The world is huge.
Goodbye,
Brian
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