Ahhh, rest at last.....sort of....

I'm not entirely sure why, but it seems every morning I need to catch a bus, train, or car share these days something goes wrong. And that usually means losing something, whether it's directions, cards, money, passes...but nothing has been permanently lost, so thank God for that. Such was the case my last day in Barcelona. I think that was partly due to the two hours of sleep I got, but it all turned out well. I can remember where I left off on the last blog, it seemed a little scattered at the time, so it seems just to start up with my "vacation within a vacation!"

During my time in Barcelona I started to get a little lost and unmotivated to plan the next step, and I'm sure anyone who has been to Barcelona can attest to the draw that city has. For some reason you just feel at home and don't really think about leaving! Anyhow, while I'm in this little state, my cousin's significant other, Lindsey, shoots me a message on Facebook telling me to check out a little place called Tossa de Mar. It's only a coule hours up the coast by bus, and it's only 12 euro to get there! I looked into it and thought "That's where I'm going!" I looked into a hostel, found there was only one in town, and booked four nights right away.
I found my way to the bus station the morning of July 1st, found I was about two hours early, bought my ticket and just chilled for a while till the bus arrived. I can't tell you how amazing the landscape was on this little trip, hands down the most beautiful yet! You're gonna hear a lot of that with this post actually... I didn't get any pictures cuz I had packed my camera, but you'll get the idea soon enough!
The bus pulled into town and I instantly felt all my stress melt away. This is the most perfectest little seaside village you could imagine, and the best way to relax for a bit. Being such a little place, only about 5,000 people, it took no time to find the hostel other than a little navigating the tiny old streets. The hostel was perfect! The best I've been to yet! I found out it had only been open since the fall so it was pretty new, and the owners, Danny and Marta, were the nicest most accommodating young couple I've met. Possibly the coolest part of the hostel was the rooftop terrace where I had a couple siestas.

At this point I'm feelin a little slimy as I have no clean clothes and havn't had a shower in I can't remember how long, so I got all cleaned and spiffed, made some dinner, and headed out to town. Turns out July 1st is the local feista, so I got fireworks for Canada Day after all! But I ramble. To be honest there's not a whole lot to tell about the town, but it was just so picturesque so I'll let the photos do the talking for now.

And this is what it looks like during the day!

I found the coolest little walking trail that went up one side of the caslte and up the mountain. Cool little beach tucked in there too!

A ferry eating beach people.

Now I get to tell you about the cool people I met on this trip! The first were a couple Israelis. This surprised me as Israelis after they finish their mandatory military service and get their whack of money usually head to South America, and they were the first I'd met yet! Really cool people though, down to earth, smart, chill, and the guy was a funk drummer! There was another guy, Pedro, from San Fransico. Definitely an American and I'm not conviced Pedro was actually his name, but he was cool too. Older fella, but adventurous and an expat trying to get citizenship in Mexico. I found them after the fireworks by chance at a pub where an Irish guy name John was slingin beers so I had one and headed back.
The next day was more of the same, hangin around not doin much, but I ran into a guy that evening whom I had met on the bus, and he and his fiancè were from Vancouver! And there was awesome music that night and dancing...and a couple drinks at a pirate bar...really cool people though, Scott and Amanda. Unfortunatley I lost them at some point so I never got their contact info, but this has been a random trip so who knows, I might bump into them in Russia or something...who knows.
The next day the Israelis left and the new crew came in! Jess and Lexi from Australia, Luke, also from Australia, and Chris who was a US Navy Korean Language Analyst. That was a good fun group, mostly because they were all my age and we had some wicked talks about everything in general! The next day Luke, Chris and I took a glass-bottom boat tour through some caves.

This lead us to a really cool little beach.

And that night we had some drinks and listened to a really amazing singer/guitar/bass duo.
And the next day I left. Simple as that, just a really super awesome chillout time with awesome people in an amazing hostel in a beautiful town. Just what the doctor ordered!
The next day was a little tricky though, I figured I'd head back to Barcelona for one night just because it's central and that's where everything travels from. I found a cheap hostel with a decent rating. Just my luck it was another Contiki hostel so yet again, loud obnoxious kids getting all liquored up cuz they cant do it at home. And to top it off I didn't get any sleep due to the Swedish skinhead Tai-Boe kickboxer instructor coming in drunk at 5am and chatting up the obnoxious Caipoera world champion in the next bunk. I didn't care if I got killed, I told them to shut up. They actually took it pretty good! Normally I would just take it and sleep in, but I knew the next day was gonna be hell already. It was. I ended up sleeping in, booking it downstairs just in time to grab a couple things for breakfast, booking it back upstairs to pack, losing my visa, finding it, checking out within 5 minutes of the deadline, getting a little lost in the metro, and finally making it to the bus station in time. Turns out I didnt need to rush as the bus was an hour late, but I was already peeved and not looking forward to my next ride. This is actually the worst bit!

I have decided that a lack of time and a decreasing bank account has pushed my travels ahead a little bit, and I took a wild jump and decided to see one place I've always really wanted to: Portugal. At this point I'd like you to open up Google Maps, look at the distance between Barcelona and Lisbon, and guess how long a bus ride would take with a two-hour stopover in Madrid. Give up? Nineteen straight hours. Flying to Austrailia doesn't take that long! However, it was actually a pretty okay trip, not much to see between the two coasts, and I managed to get some sleep. If it wasn't for a bunch of really friendly guys on that bus I would have been totally lost.
Now I can tell you all this because I have arrived at one of the friendliest, cleanest, safest  hostels that serves free pancakes till noon. Nuff said, this is gonna be a good three days. Sorry for the rant! I will leave you with a picture of me, the first I have posted, swimming in the ocean for the very first time. It was salty and warm. Bom dia!