Last days

We're in Lérida (Lleida), on our way back to Barcelona. After the previous post, we've been to Cadaqués (Dalí's house and beach life) and Andorra (mountains and tax-free shopping).

Traffic in Andorra was even more confusing than in Spain (that's what you get when you combine the best of Spain and France, said T). One of the local specialities included a "two-way lane" that worked as a bus lane (either way) or as a regular lane, depending on what the light sign above said... Another favorite is the "traffic peanut" (cf. roundabout).

Andorra is also a conveniently compact country. It's fair to say that we saw most of the country in one day ;) The best part was driving up to (another) skiing center, where we took the lift up and hiked up some more, reaching 2702 meters! Nice place for a picnic... Also saw some eagles right above our heads. The hike down the mountain was rather demanding but satisfying.

This has been a really strange vacation (weather-wise). About half of the days extremely hot, and the rest unreasonably chilly. Good thing, though, that the rain stopped after the first couple of days and we've remained dry.

So back to Barcelona next, hope to avoid being robbed again...

Barcelona

Fresh from having an experience of stupidity --> robbery. The five of us were sittin on a park bench, chilling, when a guy came up to us "asking for directions". Stupidly, I dug out my map and started looking for the street, the 4 others participating. (When the guy came up, I had a couple of Euros in my hand and told T to take them and watch out for our bags.) When he left (having not figured where he wanted to go), our friend noticed that his camera was gone. Although that was only a few minutes later, there wasn't really anything we could do. The guy was totally average looking and so on, and though we saw which way he went, he must have had a companion who took the camera and went to the other direction. The biggest loss is obviously the friend's photos, not the camera itself. And the humiliation of falling into that (albeit being suspicious of him). And the fact that I have experienced this before, in the same city!

Otherwise, it's been a good couple of days. I'm liking the city a whole lot more than the last time (when I had a fever and a toothache...). No idea where we're off tomorrow!

Ain't no sunshine...

... though it hasn't rained too bad since Sunday. Yesterday and today we've made mountain excursions, to Vallter 2000 and Val de Nuria skiing centers. Both are up at 2km and the temperature dropped down to 9 degrees!! Today we gave up and bought jackets to keep the wind and rain at a distance. Especially the Val de Nuria trip was really cool with an ancient railway going up the mountain etc.

***

We're still bravely camping despite the uninviting weather. I have to say that the others are quite a bit more "hardcore" in terms of their equipment. For instance, this one family had a tent with a sizable "living room" and three separate spaces for sleeping! Maybe it would make sense to buy a plot of land in Jollas with a sea view and just set up a tent there to get rid of the apartment problems? We, on the other hand, only have the small tent and a little flashlight, so when it gets dark at night (before 9pm.) we generally just try to sleep... A really wild vacation, eh? ;)

One more thing: I always thought it was a Finnish thing to switch to shorts the second your vacation starts, regardless of the weather. However, Spaniards really master this. They wear those fluffy winter coats during the relatively mild winter months, yet now walk around in shorts and miniskirts (the temperatures are probably about the same).

Rain in Spain

How's that possible? It's been raining all day long. Good thing we have the car, obviously. Tonight should be interesting with the tent and sleeping bags that are getting thoroughly soaked at the moment...

Finding a camping was not altogether easy in the first place. First site we checked did not quite look like the "excellent amenities" promised by the guidebook. The second no longer existed. The third is quite nice, except for the humidity of course.

Our neighbors at the camping have two dogs, they seem to be happy to sleep outside. On the other hand, the owners did put up a marquee about the size of your average urban patio next to their smallish 2-person tent... We are definitely roughing it up, sitting on the ground etc. Not much cooking going on either, since we couldn't find any fuel for the Trangia. Now we got some skin-cleaning (?) alcohol, let's see if it's any good.

So we've been village-hopping for two days since it's so easy with the car. Girona yesterday, Besalú, Olot, Castellfollit and Figueres today. These all are really close to each other, but probably wouldn't have gotten around to seeing them without the car, since bus services usually aren't that frequent.

People are happier to speak Spanish than I feared. Although T almost ended up hungry at a restaurant because the poor waiter didn't understand me ordering the menu twice :D Trying to speak English is not much use here, except at the Barcelona airport.

Let's see where we'll end up tomorrow, they're forecasting more rain... :S

- S&T

The Art of Potter

What is it about the Potter books that fascinate so many people - myself included? Now that the last (latest) book came out, I notice that most of my friends aren't interested. I didn't rush to buy the book either but I got around to reading it, I couldn't stop.

For one thing, I guess it's just simple nostalgy. I would've loved the books when I was 10 or so :) The magical world within the Muggle world, the school and all that.

But I don't think nostalgy is enough for taking me through 7 books, hundreds of pages each! It just suddenly came to me that Rowling has something special in the way she describes emotions, especially negative feelings. Usually emotions are portrayed as what is seen from the outside, as in "He seemed angry." But Rowling really manages to capture the essence of those moments when you just feel like you're going to explode and when you actually want to punch someone. (I do hope other people get that urge sometimes, too. I mean, seriously imagining hitting someone.)

Also, quite apart from most child-oriented literature, Rowling doesn't have that irritating habit of teaching lessons in the most straightforward way. Of course, the morale pops up here and there, even verbalized (especially by Dumbledore) but the messages are more complex than "Good shall conquer bad."



Ps. Was Snape really a good guy that did bad things for love or a bad guy who agreed to pose as good for the same reason?

I hate packing!

And I seem to start fretting about it earlier and earlier. Four days to go and I'm feeling panicky. At this point I always feel like backing out of all travel plans. I hate the trouble of deciding what to take with me, the packing itself, and especially the part where you keep wondering whether you took everything you need.

Yes, I know, I don't travel to places where you couldn't buy whatever you left at home (and more) but still, it's just so nervewracking!

And I'm real lousy at packing. How can it be that my clothes, for instance, are physically smaller than T's but take up more space? I start to sweat just by looking at the pile of clothes and thinking that I should manage to roll them into nice tight bunches.

This strong dislike towards the act of packing does not mean that I wouldn't have an equally strong urge to "pre-pack" (this, of course, in addition to making a detailed list on everything). No point in it, really, because usually three things happen: a) I decide that the sleeping bag/the mattress/the pillow/the extra pair of shoes doesn't need to fit IN the backpack, I can always strap it outside, b) T ends up packing the rest of the stuff c) I've forgotten half of the things I need from the "pre-packing" and have to arrange it all over again anyway.

Have I ever forgotten anything of "vital" importance? No, not really. Well, nail clippers... I had to buy a really crappy pair in Salzburg that time.


ps. I've bee led to believe that there are actual real people who read this blog, so please leave a sign ;)

Semi-serious apartment hunting

Would you rent a 20-square-meter apartment for 450€ with shower in a different building?

How about one that you'd be required to move in to within 3 days, pay that month's rent (900€) AND a 1800-Euro-fee AND the rent for your previous apartment (since it's probably not going to happen that you could move away with 2-days' notice)?

Well, welcome to Helsinki real estate business. Apparently the rental business is very hot now (because those who owned apartments started selling them a year or two ago because the sale prices were ridiculously high - now that the loan interests are going up, people are suddenly wanting to rent again). Dozens of people show up for open house and try bid against each other to get the apartment.

It's starting to seem very appealing to continue studies forever, just to keep this student apartment, not-quite-perfect as it is.