I'm back and I wish I wasn't...

I really had a good time in Spain/Portugal. Almost too good of a time. I was finally getting used to things, knowing where to go, even getting to know the local coffee place's weird hours. I was getting comfortable not working, eating tapas and drinking the best hot chocolate I'll probably ever have.

I wish I could show you guys pictures right now, but of course my computer sucks and it doesn't look like I'll get replacement until sometime next week. But I can tell you some of the highlights...

1. Seeing Jessie for the first time was fun. Gosh, it really has been forever. When we saw eachother at the airport we immediately started giggling. And from there I smoked one cigarette and then another and another. I don't think I stopped until I landed in America....

2. Portugal. I don't think any of us expected what we got out of Portugal. Especially our accomadations. I thought we'd arrive at some shack with sofas for beds. What we got was this amazing house, enough to fit 8 comfortably. We bbqed something almost everyday. And there were enough lemon and orange trees that we actually picked too many.

3. We took a long walk trying to find a shitty waterfall, which we never made it to because it took us 3 hours to walk 7 kilometers (about 3-4 miles). But it was worth it just to find an old woman coming out of the bushes with her donkey, tales of a sheep herder, passing a strange man who told us to come back to his place after dark and a crossing sign that we weren't sure said bull or cow?

4. Most of the time spent in Portugal consisted of laying out. This was perfect. I didn't want a vacation where I was running around every day, with my head in a map. I wanted to relax, take it easy and maybe spend too much time sleeping. I think I succeeded.

5. This isn't to say we didn't drink, because we did. A lot. We discovered Green Wine, which was so delicious I couldn't get enough. Alcohol was really cheap there. 80 euros (like $1.50) for basically anything. We also used those lemons to good use, and Sheena made something delicious with rum, lemons and sugar.

6. The town was too cute. There wasn't much to it. Pretty churches. Pretty bridges. Pretty little plazas. It was pretty and small. It was basically perfect.

7. On Easter, I got 2 of Jessie's friends to rent a car with me so we could go to Sevilla. This was awesome! Not just awesome because Sevilla is a cool place, but because it was Easter we were greeted with one of the biggest parades there is for this holiday. Everywhere you looked we saw guys, girls and children dressed in outfits that freakishly resemble a Klu Klux Klan outfit. There were black robes, purple robes and blue robes. It was pretty crazy. Oh, and did I mention we accidentally got free lunch + a drink. Really, I think we ran off with the food, but they were too busy to notice anyhow.

8. I fell off a bike on the train tracks. It still kinda hurts. And luckily nothing's broken, but I ran into other problems along the way. I had weird hives on my feet and my shoes caused really awful bruises that forced me not to wear shoes properly for a few days. All these things were minor, and I think all apart of travelling. No one lost a limb, so that's all that matters.

9. Back to Madrid, we kept the drinking tradition on par and included some other things as well to the mix. Jessie's friends were nice enough to just give me what they had. They are fabulous people I tell you.

10. Got to witness a drum circle that I guess happens every Sunday. It's good to know people who actually live in Madrid, because if I was a tourist I wouldn't find this drum circle in any book. Or if it was in a book, it's the type of thing you'd find on Monday and then hit yourself on the head for missing it. It was fun to see 14 year olds getting trashed, smoking hash in a big park and having the police come by every 30 minutes just to keep us all on our toes.

11. I took a train to a place called Segovia. It was nice. I think I only spent a total of 3 hours there, but honestly I just wanted to ride the train and read a little. Spain is pretty beautiful when you see it through a train. I recommend trains to everyone I tell ya.

12. Bought things at a market and at a store. The second day I got there, Jessie and I went to this one shopping district and went to every store. I couldn't find a thing. I just wasn't into it. A week later though I was on a spending binge!

13. I saw shit. I went to a museum (for free) that featured Lichenstein's work. I went to a big castle. I smoked more hash. I went to a pub quiz. I watched CSI for the first time (god, that show fucking sucks). And I spent some quality time with a good friend.

All in all, I had such a great time, and I hope to do it again sooner than later.