Feliz Navidad!
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2004
1
32
53
Trip End
Ongoing
Salou, Spain
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
I was not a happy camper when I thought of spending my 5 days off in Cork. Holidays were unexpected but were owed to me, to my delight. So I saw a deal online 30 Euro RT to Spain!
Well what a comedy of errors and should really be written like this.
Plan: Get return train ticket Dublin-Cork
Actual: Get return ticket but useless on day of return, no trains, have to get additional bus ticket
Plan: Get on 30 Euro flight to Spain on morning of 22nd
Actual: Miss flight, pay additional 60 Euro to leave next day, stay in hostel in Dublin
Plan: Arrive Reus take train to Valencia stay in coolest Hostel for 14 Euro/night
Actual: Arrive Reus no trains to Valencia, stay in pension in Salou for 25 Euro/night
Plan: Go shopping for souvenirs get money out of bank
Actual: Irish Bank card not supported, get money out of Canadian account at a cost, crappy souvenirs
Plan: Spend Christmas Eve in Tarragona, have quick pint, go home.
Actual: Spend Christmas Eve, where Santa wouldn't even say hello to me, in Irish Pub, finally meet Spaniard and Dutchman, leave private club(with spy cam and sliding peekhole) at 10AM, keys lost, locked out of hostel, find keys whilst subjecting all spaniards in town to English because no hablo espanol, sleep.
Plan: Get up Christmas Day, go to pub where they are serving Christmas dinner and sit on beach
Actual: Get up Christmas day 4:00 pm because too hungover and tired from night before, have flood in room spend 3 hours mopping and eating at Burger King, watch Godfather in Spanish.
Plan: Get phonecalls from my family to my cell phone for free and besides I have 60 Euro call credit!
Actual: Get phonecalls from my family forget that I am roaming, out of call credit.
Plan: Arranged bus to pick me up in plenty of time to get flight
Actual: Bus driver said he was looking for me for an hour, laugh and say I was there as scheduled.
Plan: Get to Airport in plenty of time to have a final Cafe Solo and Spanish Pastry
Actual: Get put on "system" for Ryan Air, "that if I am ever ever even 1 minute late for a Ryan Air flight again, I will not get on plane!" Beg and plead to get on plane, have no idea why I am in trouble as I am 1 hour early. Figure out time difference like an eedgit in the air. Now know why bus driver was smiling but not pleased.
So I don't know if I had a brain tumor or what, but after it all I had the best trip, nothing went as planned, but I didn't plan to meet a fantastic new friend whom I had never met(roomates friend)who chaperoned me to a great pub in Dublin with great craic and was met at the airport on my return to be chaperoned to the bus station. Nicest fella. Will see him again.
Didn't plan on staying in Salou, but everywhere in Spain either rained or snowed!(including Valencia) I had great weather!
Went to the Irish pub where the staff were so nice to me(eventually) and gave me a few free chupitos(shots of some sort) a keychain(tee hee) and sent over some friends(the Spaniard and the Dutchman). These guys took me to all the "local" pubs away from the touristy bars, although there were no tourists in Salou. It was soooo empty in the Irish pub a Scotsman looked at the few of us on our stools and said dryly, "So you guys are all here for the Christmas bash?" that broke the ice when we all burst out laughing. The first bar: I was made to stand on a stool and dance with another Spaniard, there were only a handful of people and I could have stayed there all night,I was given some Spanish ham that had been cured for two years(special drying process)It was delicious!
Then went to another bar where I was treated to a Spanish christmas dessert and was the only female in the bar except for the bartender, When I would walk to the bathroom it was like something out of Footloose where I would walk through and they would split like the red sea and wave there hands and dance about.
Then went to Nightclub and was told no less than 20 times by the Spaniard with us, that " I love you, love you, love you" and was "very very very very very beautiful" He eventually left when I didn't tell him I loved him back, dutchman thinks I broke his heart. My head was the size of a watermelon and so were the coldsores I had on my lips and nose.
Then went to a pub where you had to knock and then they buzzed you in if you were legit, which the Dutchman was apparantly and we sat till 10:00 AM talking about his life, namely that he left home 10 years ago with a cute little dolphin tatoo and now is covered in them. Don't worry family still have no tatoos. He was really nice but a bit of bum and saved me from uncertain death on Christmas day when he called and said, "We are going to get you food, whether you like it or not!"
Flight was gorgeous as it flew low over the Pyrenees and the Med. Only downer was that from the time I got on the plane in Spain to the time arrived in Cork I always had a couple making out beside me....loudly. One very strange thing I saw from the plane were windmills in the Irish Sea nowhere near land! I had to nudge the couple making out to show them, we were all dumfounded.
So had one of the best christmas' ever! Then back to work today
Some updates around here:
Still have guys(langers!) from old local bugging the crap out of me despite not having gone there in weeks, they now throw rocks at my window at 4:00 in the morning. Found new local they had a lockdown one night where we talked to the wee hours of the morning after everyone went home and the blinds were shut.
If I here Fairytale of New York ONE more time, I will go postal in the Inn. Song ruined forever.
Lennox Lewis DID fight for Canada...thanks Danah and Jeff.
Strange Brew the movie was on TV here last week as well as an Alberta Productions movie about Lester B Pearson, CIA and the RCMP. Yay Alberta and the Great White North!
Had a fire drill at work and watched patiently and then increduously, while all staff evacuated the building, I was told to stay and run reports! when Karen, a co-worker, came back inside, she whispered in all seriousness, "Kerri, I think your going to burn" I laughed so hard and so long the manager had to answer the phones for a while.
Well thats in a nutshell. I uploaded some photos in my Killarney entry so check them out and I will have some photos of Spain on this one as well.
Thanks to all who sent me a text on Christmas Day and called, it meant a lot to me. Hope your Christmas was as good as mine!
