Over the mountains and oceans

I Haven't updated in a long while. Hmm...I need to get better about that. But isn't that always how it goes? I've had an eventful summer so far. It started with a tearful goodbye to my students. Wait. Rewind. Just kidding there. I was sad to see them go, but I didn't shed a tear. Instead, I hoped on a plane to Hong Kong. Unfortunately that was just a layover. Next came the 11 hour flight to London (which I saw from the air and now I greatly desire to visit) and to top it off, a 3 hour flight to Madrid. Total flying time: 17 hours. Total travel time: 24 hours. My brain is thinking things like "what day is it?" "what time is it?" "how do I get to the hostel?" and "I'm tired...I think."

I held tightly to my bag as I hopped...or rather dragged my self and my luggage on to the Madrid metro. I'd heard about pick pockets in Europe, and I wasn't taking any chances. I found the hostel quickly, others weren't so fortunate, and promptly fell asleep. I had good intentions of exploring but....

Friends came, we got settled in, and we went to bed early. I won't bore you with more details of our day, but we did pay too much for a tour bus which took us to all the main sites. We saw some awesome architecture and some not so awesome paintings. I think they were supposed to be awesome but weren't. Maybe it's me...

On Sunday morning we got up with the sun and made our way to the place where the Vaughtown bus would meet us. The four hour bus ride didn't feel so long, and soon we said farewell to civilization as we knew it. No kidding. We were a bazillion miles from nowhere in a small village of about 35 people called Valdelavilla. It was quaint and surrounded by gorgeous mountain scenery, but the only inhabitants were our group, a few cooks, and some waiters. An interesing experience to be sure. The next 5 days were spent in conversation with spaniard business men and women. We did one on one conversation, phone calls, conference calls, group activities, skits, and the coveted free time. It was a fun week overall once we got over the fact that the nearest town was miles away and we had no cell phone reception or cars (not that I had a cell phone but it was pretty funny to watch some of the spaniards walk 30 minutes down the mountain path just to find a signal.)

After the little graduation ceremony, we boarded the bus once again and headed back to reality. The spaniards were happy to be able to speak Spanish again and the Anglos were just happy to see civilization. And that, In half a
nut shell, was vaughantown.

We spent the next day touring the palace in Madrid. Before we went to the palace, however, we searched frantically for an Internet cafe. You see, when flying with Ryan Air, you must check in online. If you don't you're charged a not so happy 40 euros to check
In when you get there. God was very good and I was able to check in online an print out mu boarding pass. So, on to the palace. It was pretty cool. There was a room for 'the ceremony of dressing'...who has a room in which they only get dresses? Like what.

When we got to the airport, God was good once again. My carry on bag BARELY fit and my checked bag was 1 kg over but the lady was in a good mood and so we were cleared and I didn't have to pay 70 euro for my second bag. We got great seats on the open seat flight and were off to Roma.

The next 6 days flew by. The hostel in which we stayed was actually a camp ground...a rather large one at that. It was about an hour outside the city by metro and awfully close to the beach. The beach, of course, was the splendid blue waters of the Mediterranean sea. Anyways, we saw all the major sites and some not so major sites when we attempted, unsucessfully, to find the 'real' italia. It was shut down for the day apparently. The first day ended a bit early for we had probably walked close to 1,000 miles. I might exaggerate a tad, but we walked a lot! Our stay in Rome was filled with yummy espresso and gelto, breathtaking sites, awesome pizza, and friendly people. We were awestruck and silent in the coloseum, caught in the rain, tired after climbing 322 steps to the cupula of St. Peters Basillica, burned by the sun at the beach, overwhelmed with the ruins of the massive city of Pompeii, and almost killed by slippery tiles on the Spanish Steps in the rain, among other things. It was a stellar trip.

When we got to the airport on the last day, we were greeted by a ground crew strike. Welcome to our country! :) all was worked out and my flight was rerouted to Toronto where my other flight was delayed for several hours. I made it home in one piece and managed to fool my patents into thinking I had dyed my hair dark brown and cut my bangs short with a little help from a wig I had bought in Seoul.

So there you have it. The first couple legs of my summer adventures. More to come unless I die or the Lord comes back (which I hope for!) Peace.