Earlier I went to Sintra which is just under 40 minutes away from Lisbon via train. I’ve not yet had a proper chance to explore Lisbon as it has been constantly raining and there was a slight problem involving a flip flop and my ankle swelling, so hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to explore the city.
To get to Madrid there was a 4.5 hour bus journey to face, which actually wasn’t as soul destroying as it may sound. The hostel was easy to find, I checked in and was given some recommendations for things to do and places to eat, so naturally, I went to get some food.
I found a nice tapas bar where I ordered grilled goats cheese and some salt cod fritters – both were delicious. I found it quite amusing that the waiter told me to order two dishes instead of three because it was too much. I listened to him and thought that it was cute that he thought that because he quite obviously underestimated how much I can eat especially when I was as hungry as I was. I skipped an artichoke dish, but I could’ve eaten it.
Today I took a day trip from Madrid to Toledo, 30 minutes or so via train. I had Googled last night directions to the center of the town to prevent an internal gps meltdown.
After a 3.5 hour journey over three different buses, I arrived in Granada on Thursday. It’s the first hostel I’ve stayed in on this trip that I haven’t gotten lost or had to turn around and go back somewhere, which I was amazed by as it’s been the one that’s been the biggest pain in the arse to get to.
On Sunday I arrived in Seville. I wasn’t in the best of moods as my sense of navigation wasn’t up to scratch, resulting in me carrying my backpack that weighs the same as a small child for an extra 20 minutes. Whilst I was checking in, I was notified that there was a free dinner at 9pm, but it couldn’t wait as the only thing I had eaten since breakfast was a kit kat, so I popped to burger king for my first dinner, then had a risotto for my second dinner. Continue reading
I had another early start on Thursday to catch the train from Malaga to Ronda, and it seems as though for the time being that I have also left the nice weather behind too. I walked so much during my time in Malaga that I was pretty sore, plus there was no safe way out of the top bunk in the hostel apart from hoping for the best, so the amount of bruises I had from climbing in and out of bed didn’t really help.
On Monday I had a 4am start to catch a flight to Málaga. I had not been out of bed before 8 in over three months but made it to the airport.
Once I arrived and checked into the hostel, I went for a walk up the Alcazaba which had a pretty good view from the top. I also had a look through the market which is quite impressive; the food does stand out a lot more than in English markets. To end the day I visited the Picasso museum, there were more paintings in there than I had expected and was quite interesting.
My final trip this year was Edinburgh, a 4.5 hour train ride from Kings Cross St. Pancras. I had a week before I start my new temporary job before I go to Europe early next year, so I thought it’d be silly not to take advantage and go somewhere.
Part two of my trip was Oslo. For the first, and probably last time, I managed to get front row seats on the flight. I didn’t notice until I looked on my ticket whilst I was getting on the plane, only to realise that the flight was three quarters full, so I had to put my bag in the luggage compartment in row 8 then make my way back to row 1, trying to get past a lot of unimpressed Scandanavians who were boarding the flight. That was not fun.
One of the things that I have proved myself very, very good at is getting lost. When I got to Stockholm, I went to the Central Station via the Arlanda Express and found myself at City Backpackers Hostel within ten minutes, however I did get lost on my way from the reception desk to the room…
