Probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen!

He also took me everywhere, showed me his favourite restaurants and clubs, took me for a delicious meal with his brother and then we went for a wonderful walk along the coast. It was beautiful!

The worst bit was saying goodbye. I hated that.

written by  Brigid Jelsma on June 7, 2011 from Valencia, Spain
from the travel blog: Walk a little further to another plan
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I was fortunate enough to arrive a few hours before a free walking tour, so I made my way to the meeting point (getting lost a few times) and waited by the fountain, eying a particularly extravagant lamp post.

A few moments later I was approached by a man, who had been standing just opposite me. "Gaudi's work really is extraordinary, isn't it?"

Gaudi? Hmmm. That name did sound familiar and the man seemed to say it like one would Raphael or Da Vinci, so I nodded, did my whole goofy smile thing, and mumbled, "Yeah. It really is."

Thankfully the man then launched into all the details of his work - actually teaching art, so Gaudi's work was particularly special to him. I felt a bit of an ignoramus, by anyway.

My tour started pretty soon after that, and I got chatting to a German girl, Melly, who is doing ERASMAS in Barcelona. And then I met two guys, SOUTH AFRICAN GUYS!!! And it took me ages to realise they were from home, but then I saw his Springbok hat!

I nearly died.

Anyway, the tour was fantastic. An overload of information, but at least I learnt who Gaudi was. We were also saw a mansion in which a king died of viagra overdose (actually herbs given to him to induce *ahem* gave him stomach problems, but a viagra overdose is much more amusing).

That night I went to a couchsurfing event - meeting in a tiny pub in the backstreets of Barcelona, and I met loads of people, including a British guy, Nick. He was only there for a day (on a business trip, actually), but we ended up trawling through the streets in the middle of the night.

Then I realised the metro in Barcelona shuts at midnight on Thursdays.... Remember how I mentioned how far out of the centre my hostel was? Yup. SCREWED.

I ended up staying out all night (thank Jungle Bars that pubs and clubs actually stay open all that time), and I think Nick was hungover for his business meeting, but anyway. I arrived at my hostel feeling shattered, the guy there (luckily one I'd been chatting to earlier) burst out laughing and, even though I was meant to check out, led me to a bed downstairs that the staff use.

I collapsed.

Four in the afternoon I stumbled out, managed to find another hostel, make my way there and collapse again.

Then Rob called.

Oh, and it was pouring with rain by then.

I managed to drag myself out of bed, throw some clothes on, and make my way to Barceloneta tube stop. And there was Rob, with NO UMBRELLA, standing outside a off license alcohol store - typical. :D

We decided to risk the rain and make our way to Sagrada Familia - Gaudi's masterpiece of a basilica.

FIFTEEN EUROS. But worth every cent. Nature influenced all of Gaudi's work, and this is most visible inside. The massive pillars and curved ceiling makes it all congruent with what I imagine Elven architecture to be like. And the exterior is so detailed it would take forever to examine each figure - time we really didn't have while running around beneath an umbrella, dodging raindrops.

It's apparently only going to be finished in 2023. So that gives me another excuse to visit Barcelona again.

That night I went out with Rob and Charlie - Rob's housemate. Alcohol. So much alcohol. And I ended up crashing at their place (once again making my hostel stay redundant).

The next day, I just wandered around, down La Ramblas, along the beachfront, through the parks, before meeting up for a party on the beach.

And the water was so warm, even in the middle of the night!

So, all in all, Barcelona was a fantastic experience.

written by  Brigid Jelsma on June 11, 2011 from Barcelona, Spain
from the travel blog: Walk a little further to another plan
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The following day I met up with another couchsurfer who showed me around the city, the touristy and the not-so-touristy spots – one of which included a trip up an elevator coated in graffiti to the roof of a dilapidated apartment with the best view of the city imaginable.

I then had the comical experience of ordering a baguette in a garble of Spanish and French: “Ola! erm, uh. Bonjour. Uno... baguette, por favour - uh, merci. Uh, s'il vous plaît. Uh...” Oh, dear.... The man then proceeded to respond in perfect English.

Moving swiftly along. Montpelier was beautiful. Rue Foch in particular, with the beautiful triumphal arch and garden (although I could only see the botanical garden from the outside as it was closed).

I then finally accepted the fact that my shoes were a lost cause, gave in and bought some new ones from a cheap thrift store.

I felt rather out of place.

And everything was ridiculously expensive. Geneve is actually ranked as the forth most expensive city in the world – and I really do not want to visit the top three; I felt ripped off!

But then to redeem it, Geneve also has the UN headquarters (although what that three-legged chair is all about, I have no clue!

And the beautiful lake and jet.

And pianos scattered around public areas where musicians, talented or otherwise, can entertain passers-by. So it's not all bad. There's also a beautiful cathedral, some canons that I stumbled upon whose significance I am still uncertain of, and a charming old man whom I asked to take a photo of me and who promptly offered up his son as my 'arm candy'. :D

Poor guy. He was really embarrassed.

Then there was the rather entertaining series of protest-comics displayed along the lake – even one by Zapiro, a South African cartoonist.

I was staying with, surprise surprise, a guy who works at a bank. It was his first time hosting, and he did really well! He went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and took me out to dinner by the lake with some friends.

The following day I was accosted by a girl trying to get interviews from people about Geneve. Like an idiot, I felt sorry for her and decided to participate in the survey.... Forty-five minutes later I was still trying to explain that, “Yes, I have honestly been travelling for the past several months, and, I do actually have enough knowledge of other metropolitan cities to be able to rank Geneve, and, no, I do not want to tell you exactly what my plans for Geneve are as I honestly do not have any plans, and, and, and...”

I got rather frustrated with her down-the-nose attitude, to tell you the truth.

written by  Brigid Jelsma on June 15, 2011 from Geneva, Switzerland
from the travel blog: Walk a little further to another plan
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I was staying with a wonderful family of three. They were responsible for my fantastic stay. They had ten days left before they had to move House. Ten stressful days of packing, cleaning and preparing the House and garden for the next lodgers.

Via WorkAway, I ended up volunteering and helping them out. It was great fun – loads of work, but even that was satisfying. And, in between the lugging of heavy boxes and the weeding, the family went out of their way to show me the surroundings and introduce me to the Swiss way of life.

They took me up the Fribourg mountains, along a trail that belongs in romanticised novels of green slopes, massive bell-bearing cows and mud. Loads of glorious mud. And Amanda and I snuck out for some chocolate fondue – the best in the world, no doubt about it!

And Montreux was a wonderful town to explore, set on the lake, with mountains all around (like the scene from Jurassic Park I when they approach the Island for the first time and you see the jagged mountains, or maybe that's just me).