iowa ... potatoes?

"So, where are you from? Canada?" the man with the North American accent asked me.

"No, I'm from the states actually. From Iowa," I told him.

"Ohhh, Iowa. Potatoes, right," he declared.

"No, you're thinking Idaho. Only corn, soybeans, pigs, and cows in Iowa" I corrected him.

"No, I'm pretty sure Iowa has potatoes," he again declared rather affirmatively.

"Nope," I said again. "No potatoes in Iowa."

One of the other men at the table apparently didn't believe me either. "Yah, you always see 'Made in Iowa' on bags of potatoes in Canada."

Maybe I didn't live in Iowa for 22 years of my life?!

This conversation - or should I say subtle argument - took place at work tonight. I'm one of Edinburgh's newest bartenders. I started one week ago today at a pub called Deacon Brodie's Tavern.

deacon brodies tavern

Deacon Brodies is situated directly on the Royal Mile - only five or ten minutes away from Edinburgh's emblematic Edinburgh Castle which towers over most of the city. While we do have our Scottish regulars, many of Deacon Brodies' patrons are tourists (Eg. The stubborn Canadians). I'm again lucky to have the opportunity to tend bar. While I have plenty of bar experience, the vast majority of this is on the other side of the bar. The tavern is a typical Scottish pub with a selection of Scottish beers, cask ales, and an assortment of malt whiskeys. Considering this, most of my time is spent pouring pints, mixing cocktails, and acting as though I know the ins and outs of malt whiskeys (our Whiskey Bible describes the malts as having characteristics such as 'fruity,' ''floral,' 'smoky,' 'soapy,' etc. I mean, come on!).

That's the latest news in the life of me. If I'm not working at Deacon's, I'm working various assignments for the temp agency. If I'm not doing this, I'm being quite lame as I'm still ... shall we say, broke. My goal as of now is to save money as I have a trip planned for the end of March.

On the 24th of March, I'll be flying from Newcastle, England, to ... Cork, Ireland. Yes, I'm heading back to the Emerald Isle. My good friend Lauren Lewis has always wanted to visit Ireland and decided now, with my close proximity to the island, would be the ideal time. Less than a month away ... it will be here before I know it. I'm excited to go back and am trying to plan the perfect trip.

Thanks to everyone for the supportive words I received after my last post - I appreciate your encouragement and thoughts.

best, mk

lifestyle i've chosen

I sit down to write not with any exciting news of travels, pictures of places seen, or people met. I'd be foolish if I expected my journey of traveling and working abroad to be nothing but partying, pleasure, and completely enjoying myself. There are - without a doubt - going to be setbacks to conquer and hills to climb. I'd also be naive to not admit that thus far I've had a pretty good hand dealt to me.

Ireland treated me amazingly. Immediately upon my arrival to the country, I fell in love with the place, the people, and this was surely made possible by my (relatively) carefree three weeks of traveling. When the three weeks or so came to an end, I made the decision to work for face2face. While the work was difficult and I often questioned my employment with the company, it provided many advantages. Free accommodation - I was able to earn Euros while paying nothing for a place to sleep each night. Though I worked long and difficult hours, the pay was good. I believe hindsight has shown me that the greatest benefit from working for face2face wasn't the free accommodation, it wasn't the wages, it maybe wasn't even the feeling of knowing that I was making a difference in the lives of others, but that it provided a perfect venue to make irreplaceable friendships. These friendships absolutely added to my experience in Ireland - an experience that I consider invaluable - one that I will surely remember the rest of my life.

In Galway, I had stupid luck. With zero experience serving, I quite frankly probably didn't deserve the opportunity to work for Ard Bia. But thanks to the goodwill of the staff - namely my manager, within three days of my arrival to Galway, I was working for a brilliant restaurant. Again, I was able to meet wonderful people and immediately had a steady flow of income.

Things in Edinburgh are taking longer to fall completely into place. My attempts at finding gainful, full-time employment have so far been fruitless. I've spent more than a couple afternoons canvassing the town, introducing myself to potential employers, and dropping off my CV with hopes of finding the perfect job. As of yet, it hasn't come my way. And, I have to realize, the perfect job may not immediately (or ever) fall into place. Luckily, the temp agency I'm working for has provided me with the opportunity to work - albeit, none of this work has been overly glamorous or exciting. But, it's work nonetheless.

I guess the purpose behind this post is to show that this path I've chosen isn't as easy as it's maybe seen. I'm hundreds of miles away from close friends, familiarity, and most importantly family. I'm watching my two year old nephew grow up through occasional webcam hellos. Anyone who knew me well in university would know that telephone conversations with my parents were a two or three time a day occurrence. Lately, a weekly hello and email is the extent of my relationship with my folks and my sister. All this being said, I consider myself unbelievably lucky to know that I have the support of such a loving family - regardless of how many miles or time zones separate us. Lucky, as well, to be on this journey - challenges or not.

So with the lifestyle I've chosen comes ups and downs. It's all part of the experience. I'll remember the ups and the downs will surely make me a stronger person.

stay well, everyone. thanks for reading. - mdk

sevilla & madrid, pictures

Below, you'll find some pictures from my time in Spain - a wonderful two weeks of relaxation, sun, brilliant food, and beautiful cities. When needed, I've included some commentary and/or explanation of the shots. So, enjoy ...

(editors note: you may notice my clothing changes infrequently throughout these photos - for three weeks, i lived out of a day pack sized backpack -luckily, many of the hostels we found had laundry facilities!)

brian, myself, and cat - drinking tinto de verano

Brian standing outside the Sevilla Cathedral. Sevilla's Cathedral is the third largest in the world and the construction of it began sometime around 1400. It was fascinating. This one blew me away. The organ has 6700 pipes.

views from the top

Looking up at the cathedral through the orange trees - the trees seemingly lined every street of the city. Unfortunately, a forbidden fruit for the oranges were apparently quite sour.

The cathedral at night.

The Plaza de Espana. A half circle of buildings surrounded by a moat. We didn't go in, but from what I understand, the buildings are used mainly for government functions. What I do know, is the Plaza was lined with very comfortable looking benches that would be ideal for an afternoon siesta.

Okay, maybe we kind of went inside ... a view looking out.

The inside of a Sevilla bar. Hanging from the ceiling, you see the legs of pigs - jamon. Nearly every bar in Sevilla had jamon hanging from the ceiling - hooves and all. Jamon is served very thinly sliced either by itself or on bread. Good, but extremely expensive - a small tapa (four slicesish) would be €2 or €3. In bulk, jamon sells for €60 - €70 per kilogram. After being slaughtered, the legs are let to dry for about two weeks - then, comes anywhere from nine months to two years of curing. In fairness, I should let you know I didn't learn this all from my conversations with the Spainish barmen - remember, I don't speak Spainish. Wikipedia.org provides more than you'd ever want to know about jamon - check out the article here.

Guadalquivir river running through Sevilla

The Torre del Oro (Gold Tower) in Sevilla. Situated on the banks of the river, it provided protection from enemy ships trying to head upstream ... constructed sometime in the 12th century.

Brian and I on our Sevici bikes - we were flying, I'm not sure how Cat was able to get a shot of us (sarcasm, notice the kickstands).

brian, myself, cat, and cat's friend nancy drinking mediocre beers

Our last evening with Cat - we were on our way to catch the 1am bus to Madrid.

We arrived in Madrid shortly after 7am. We were tired, frustrated, and delirious. After mindlessly studying a map of the city for some time, we decided to leave the bus station (note: we weren't entirely sure what bus station we were at). We really had no clue where we were going. After ten minutes of walking through the cold, dark, area surrounding the bus station, we promptly turned around. Plan B was getting on the Madrid Metro. After boarding a couple wrong trains, we eventually made our way to our destination, Sol.


Straight from Sevilla to the very center of Spain. This stone block is found in the city center Puerta del Sol in Madrid - it marks the radial center of all the Spainish roads - Kilometer Zero.

brian, lost at Kilometer Zero one Madrid morning

Billboard on the top of one of the buildings surrounding the Puerta del Sol - something like the first billboard ever constructed in Madrid ...

Yes! The Iowa Restaurant. In Madrid?!

The Royal Palace of Madrid - the largest palace in Europe with over 2800 rooms. It was nice, but probably not worth my five Euros - equally impressive from the outside where the view was free.

The Madrid Cathedral. Neoclassical design - construction didn't begin until the end of the nineteenth century, stopped completely during the Spanish Civil War, and wasn't completed until 1993.

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

Below I have some pictures of the rarer types of tapas I ate while in Madrid. I think I enjoyed Madrid more than Sevilla - the deciding factor was the tapas. In Madrid, you'd go to a bar, order a beer, and get a plate of tapas - free of charge. Brilliant.

braided lamb intestines

kidneys (from some animal)

Oreja a la Plancha - delicious. Okay, well interesting. If you were a 'food texture' person, you probably wouldn't be able to eat them - they chew exactly as you'd expect oreja a la plancha to chew. Oh, oreja a la plancha are diced pigs ears.

Brian, myself, and our two friends from La Sobebria (Lincoln and Julio). In the week that we spent in Madrid, La Soberia was our nightly watering hole. We became the locals ... from Iowa. Each night, we'd sit in from of Lincoln who was the tapas chef. We'd spend the night drinking Cruzcampo, eating plates of tapas, and having the craic. I told you most bars would serve you a small plate of tapas with a beer - by the weeks end, Lincoln was shoving plates of food to us throughout the entire evening.

settled in edinburgh

So, I just got back to my flat from work and my face is numb from the cold. My beard typically protects my face – at least somewhat – from the bitter and biting wind that has become ubiquitous here in Scotland’s capital city.

Wait. Flat? Work? Yes, much has transpired since I last posted from Edinburgh’s NewCityHostel. I had spent much of my time in the past couple weeks scanning Gumtree for job and flat postings. I sent out my CV to many restaurants and hotels outside of Edinburgh - the upside to these jobs is that the employer would provide live-in accommodation. Unfortuantely, many of these employers were also looking for a long - term commitment. This is something I wasn't comfortable with. I want to be able to travel. Also, my parents will be visiting again sometime soon. My thought is I will have more flexibility with a job here in Edinburgh.

Now, about finding accommodation. Not surprisingly, most landlords or current tenants want a long term or short term (at least six month) commitment on a flat. Again, I just wasn't ready to make that sort of a commitment. I like Edinburgh - a beautiful city, full of travelers, with much to offer - arts, social scene, history, proximity to airport, etc - but, three months from now, I might want to head someplace else within the UK.

So, what did I find? In my mind, the best possible option for where I'm at right now.

My job: I'm currently working for two different hospitality staffing agencies. The work should be interesting to say the least - if nothing else, I'll experience something different each time I work. At least for now, it's perfect. I worked tonight, I work tomorrow night, I work Sunday night, and I have shifts scheduled all next week. The priceless advantage is the fact that I'm paid weekly. So, already next Thursday, I'll be paid by two employers. Much needed pay after my extended holiday + deposit on flat + first months rent.

So, the flat: Again, I must say, it's ideal for the situation I'm in. Brian and I are living in a quaint two room, top floor flat. It is quite cozy, to say the least - but, it really is nice. The location is ideal - we're three minutes away from one of the main streets here in Edinburgh. The price is right. Most importantly, we're not tied down to staying here. The owner is trying to sell the flat - so we just have to be here one or two times a week to show the place. Once it sells, it will be at least two months before the sale is finalized and we have to move out. If we want to leave, we just need to give the owner three weeks. It's great to finally have a place to call 'home.' It has literally been five months since I've been able to properly unpack my pack. Plus, we have a fireplace. I mean, you can't beat it.

My face is cold, because as I walked into work tonight at the Edinburgh Sheraton, the first thing I heard was, "You, the beard has to go." I mentioned that it has been five months since I've properly unpacked my pack, I would also venture to guess it's been five months since I've had a properly, clean-shaven, face.

So, for the moment, I'm settled in Edinburgh. cheers.

scene from ayamonte

Below, you'll find a quick video clip ... I suppose a video that would be quite unentertaining without a quick introduction from myself.

This little bar ... literally, in an alleyway, off of a side street, and barely marked from the outside ... was the first place Brian and I decided to have a cerveza at in Spain. Our arrival was marked by an unfortunate, but somewhat humorous event. We found out after missing two buses to Sevilla, that when you get on a car ferry, and ride five minutes across the river separating Ayamonte (Spain) from Vila Real de Santo Antonio (Portugal), the time changes.

Our time in between missing these buses was spent drinking the cold, tasteless, and highly carbonated beer that is Cruzcampo, eating tapas, and drinking our first Spanish vino. Towards the end of the evening, we decided we really needed to focus on finding a place to stay. We were directed from the bartender to a hostel which we found to be closed. After this, we embarked on what turned out to be a one hour plus walk around Ayamonte in search of a place to stay. We walked aimlessly, without directions from anyone, and not surprisingly found nothing. We tried to talk with a couple people along the way - but, with us speaking (very) minimal Spanish, and them speaking minimal (or no) English, we had no luck.

Frustrated, and arguing about something, we tried to figure out how to get back towards the city center as our aimless walking had taken us to a residential area of Ayamonte. Soon, we found what would be classified as the area around the city center of Ayamonte. We blindly navigated our way through the alleyways of town - when, somehow unbeknownst to us still, we turned a corner and found our watering hole.

Earlier on in the evening, our watering hole was deserted. Two or three hours later, we walked in to find the below scene. An extremely smoky bar, filled with many drunk local Spanish men - all clapping and listening to traditional Spanish music.

You won't be able to tell from this video, but it really was fascinating. They could all make different clapping sounds for different songs ... and nearly everyone in the bar was taking part at some point in each song. All impromptu - a bunch of locals having a good time out. The man with the jean jacket was doing everything he could to teach me to clap along. While we couldn't communicate with each other (at all), I had a terrific time.

'Edinburgh by Wednesday'

'Edinburgh by Wednesday' - I couldn't help but laugh as I read this in my latest post. By Wednesday, I clearly meant Saturday.

Brian and I arrived back in Edinburgh this afternoon. It was only fitting that as we landed on the runway of the Edinburgh Airport, it began to rain. Why wouldn't it? Needless to say, as I walked through the cold, wind, and rain of Edinburgh's streets I began to miss Madrid, Sevilla, Ayamonte, Manta Rota, and the other towns of Southern Portugal and Spain. Though, after an eight day holiday turned into a twenty day holiday, my Current Account at the Allied Irish Bank in Galway probably sighed a sigh of relief to know that I can now begin seriously searching for a employment.

We stayed longer in Madrid because A) We really enjoyed the city B) There was plenty we wanted to see and do and C) We found a cheap ticket leaving today.

So, back in Edinburgh. The plan? I'll look for work and a place to live either here in Edinburgh or a smaller town north of here.

Check back for pictures and more on Madrid.

spain

Hello all, from Madrid. I was finally - again after another week - able to pull myself away from Sevilla. Something about Sevilla - be it the tapa bars, the warm weather, my wonderful tour guide and translator, Cat, or the comfort of one the the nicest hostels I've stayed in yet - wouldn't let go of me. But, after seven nights, I was finally off to see my third, and probably last Spanish town - at least for a couple months.

Sevilla is a beautiful and comfortably sized city - approximately 600,000 people inhabit Sevilla. The main portion of the city is comprised of skinny, cobblestone, streets and alleyways and only after seven nights did I begin to have a vague idea of how to get around the city. Brian and I figured out the most entertaining way to see the city of Sevilla - on the seats of our very own Sevici Bicycles.

Speaking of these bicycles, and the ease of alternative transportation they provide, I've decided to do a quick - positives and negatives list of Sevilla ...

So, the optimist that I am, I'll begin with the:

• Sevici Bicycles (positive) - The concept behind them is brilliant. All throughout Sevilla, you find computerized bike stands which have bicycles you can rent - some 150,000 of them. You can rent them for 10 minutes, for 30 minutes, for two hours, etc. You pick them up at any stand ... and then drop them off when you've reached your destination (or somewhere within a two or three block radius). They're dirt cheap. For a tourist like myself, I paid €5 for a 7 day pass (residents can get a year long pass for €10) - after this, you could ride a bike for 30 minutes each time for free, an hour was something like €1 ... and it went up from there. What an ideal way to commute to work, class, or the bar and save money - not to mention, mother earth.
  

• Tapas Bars (positive) - Genius, as is the eating and going out lifestyle that they promote. You go to a bar (late, 9:30 at the earliest), have a couple beers, and order a couple plates of tapas - small plates of appetizers - hot or cold ... vegetabley or meaty ... seafood or fried food - this type of eating and drinking, in my opinion, makes for a far more conversation friendly evening. After one bar and a couple plates of food, you move on to the next.

I mentioned 'having a couple beers' while you're out enjoying tapas. To be fair, this brings me to one of Sevilla's negatives ...

• Cruzcampo (negative) - Southern Spain's beer = boring, tasteless, and is served far too cold and carbonated. To be fair, I'm coming off of a four month period of consuming the world's greatest beer - Guinness - but, Cruzcampo didn't do a very good job of winning me over. To put this in perspective ... Back in Iowa, I would say my least favorite beer would be Miller Light (Sorry, Rob). But, if you put a Miller Light and a Cruzcampo in front of me at the bar tonight, I would gleefully reach for Miller's Light and boring brew.

• But, a positive came from growing tired of drinking Cruzcampo - I switched to ordering orange juices. Only kidding. But, I did develop a taste for tinto de verano ... a popular Spanish drink. Tinto de verano is a refreshing mixture of one part wine, one part Refresco Lemon (essentially sparkling lemonade), and garnished with a lemon. Mom, try one, I reckon you'd love it.

• Cigarette smoke = a major negative for Spain. For the last four and a half months, I enjoyed the joys of going to a pub / club / or restaurant and not coming home smelling like an ashtray. Ireland, smoke free (though sometimes in small villages near pub close, the ashtrays would come out ... but, this was kind of cool in a rebellious, teenager hiding smoking from their parents (the Irish police) sort of way). Norway, smoke free. Portugal, smoke free as of January 1st, 2008. Not in Spain - there is no shortage of cigarette smoke in Spain. I knew things were getting out of hand when Brian and I walked into Dunkin Donuts this morning (we were tired and desperate, and it sounded really good - plus, for €1.85 you got a donut and a cup of coffee), and there was a haze of smoke throughout the store.

• The old, jolly, bartenders who work behind the bar in small, Spanish watering holes definitely need to be noted as a positive. They all always seem so happy and are quick to make jokes and poke fun at the customers. But, to be true, my inability to understand these bartenders surely needs to be noted as a negative.

• I've never really regretted not learning Spanish until this past week. I watch my friend Cat in awe as she converses with the previously mentioned jolly bartenders or any of her other Spanish speaking friends - or, for that mater, as she translated the menu each night for Brian and I. I'm to the point where I miss hearing English ... not so much that I miss the English, but I merely miss being able to converse with the bartender, or hearing a neighboring tables conversation, or reading a menu, advertisement, street sign, etc - you get the picture.
  

All of the negatives aside, I've very much enjoyed my time here in Spain. I've seen very little of the massive country and hope to travel here again in the future.

Brian and I arrived here in Madrid early this morning at about 7:30am. We had the genius idea to save some money by not booking a place to stay yesterday evening - instead, we caught the 1am bus from Sevilla to Madrid - from here, we'll be able to book a flight straight into Edinburgh. The bus ride was ... well, for lack of a better word, miserable. I expected a 1am bus to be nearly empty - but, the bloody coach was nearly full. Sleep was next to impossible thanks to two, very loud men who decided to talk each others ear off for the greater portion of the bus ride.

Checked in at another hostel tonight ... will tour the city tomorrow ... and hopefully head back 'home' to Edinburgh by Wednesday. mk

For now, I'm 'stuck' in Spain

Hello, all. Here is the latest craic. As the title of this post states, I'm currently 'stuck' in Spain - alas, there could be worse places to be beached.

To explain why I'm stranded, I must first explain how I got here.

Brian and I booked our tickets to Spain when we were still on the Emerald Isle. We knew we would be leaving the UK and wanted to get to Espana to visit our friend Cat - we figured the cheapest way was the best ... but hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.

We booked a cheap fare from East Midlands in England to Barcelona. As you know if you've been following my journey, we have yet to see Barcelona. When we were in Edinburgh, we decided it would be cheaper for us to fly to Faro - when considering transportation to East Midlands, accommodation along the way, etc - than to catch a bus or train to East Midlands. It was, for about 20 pounds we booked a one way flight to Faro and somehow spent a week in (somewhat) sunny Portugal where the cost of living was significantly cheaper than the UK.

Our flight out of Barcelona was to leave today at 1:40. The next problem was getting from our current location of Sevilla to Barcelona. Having only traveled Ireland when we booked our ticket, we wrongly assumed (ass out of u and me - in this case, more just me) you could hop on a bus to any city for at most 20 quid. Sevilla, as we have come to learn is a 16 hour, 95 Euro, bus ride away from Barcelona. Once we arrived in Barcelona, we'd then only have a ticket to East Midlands - which, as we now know, is a 50 or 60 Pound bus or train ride from our current home of Edinburgh.

What we end up with, is the fact that for now, I'm 'stuck' in Spain. The goal: figure out the quickest, most cost-effective way to get from Sevilla to Edinburgh.

But, for now, I'm off to wander the streets of 17C (65F) Sevilla.

salud, mdk

portugal, looking back

As I've said, I'm not entirely sure how I spent one entire week in the Algarve of southern Portugal. Considering the speed at which the week flew by, I clearly enjoyed myself.

From Faro, where I last posted in Portugal, I headed west and south to the town of Albufeira. I must say, during the majority of the week, Brian and I had one thing on our mind ... renting motorbikes and spending two or three days exploring the roads of southern Portugal from two wheels of a motorcycle. Needless to say, we were unsuccessful in our attempts to rent motorbikes. There was no shortage of places to 'hire' (European for rent) motorcycles from, but many of these businesses were closed for the off-season.

While the off-season made our attempts at hiring a motorcycles unsuccessful, it most definitely added to our enjoyment of our time in Portugal. I can only imagine the difference in my perception of the towns we traveled to if it was the middle of the summer. First, the temperature would be unbearably hot. We enjoyed 12C - 15C degree weather during the day and cool, crisp evenings at night. Also, fellow travelers and tourists were few and far between. During high season, the towns we traveled to would have undoubtedly had an entirely different feel ... one that I don't imagine I would have enjoyed nearly as much.

We arrived in Albufeira late one evening early on in the week. Albufeira, as many of the towns in the south, is split into distinctly different sections - old town and new town. Old town Albufeira was very similar to the streets we encountered in Faro - full of skinny, cobblestone streets and alleyways, cafes, hole-in-the-wall bars, and restaurants serving fresh and cheap seafood. When in Faro, we were far enough inland that we didn't see the sea. After getting off the bus in Albufeira, we wandered the streets of town until we found a tunnel under a hotel. We weren't entirely sure, but from our map-reading, we derived the sea was directly on the other side of the tunnel. We were correct ... I was so excited to again see the ocean - albeit through the darkness. The scents, sounds, and view of the vast expanse of darkness before me was indescribably peaceful.

Brian and I had unprecedented luck finding cheap accommodation while in Portugal. Bartering wasn't difficult when checking into a accommodation. With no tourists in town, many places were happy to simply have a room rented. I think the best experience was in Faro - we had checked out a couple residencials in the town center. The owners had asked anything from €30 - €45 a night (for two). (The average price we paid for dorm style hostels in Ireland was in the range of €20/person) We walked into one place, "The Dandy Residencial" and the man told us it would be €30 for the two of us. We told him we would think about it and proceeded to walk around Faro with the hopes of finding something cheaper. As we meandered our way through the narrow streets, we somehow came across the same residencial. From the balcony above the street, we all of a sudden heard the owner shouting, "Okay, two beds, twenty-five Euros." Perfect.

We also had nights when we struggled to find accommodation. On one of our last nights in Portugal, we ended up staying in a small town just up the road from Manta Rota. Manta Rota was small and had no direct bus service to the town near the border of Spain and Portugal where we hoped to spend the night. On our way to the town north of Manta Rota we came across a bar where we decided to have a pint. We've found that the best places to have a beer are the places where the locals congregate - this bar screamed local. We were shocked to go inside and find €0.90 beers, pool tables, and electronic dart boards. Three things we haven't seen since leaving Iowa. We somehow lost track of time and therefore missed our bus. This wasn't the end of the world, we would just spend one more night in Portugal. Spain and Sevilla could wait.

After asking the barmaid in broken Portuguese where the nearest (and we found, only) residencial was, we made our way to our hopeful accommodation. We rang the buzzer outside the door and two or three fretful minutes later, the owner made his way down the street from a neighboring bar. We let him know we needed two beds - he quoted thirty Euros and we asked if we could see the room. Mind you ... all of this is happening with a distinct communication barrier - the owner's English was only slightly better than our very bad Portuguese. After seeing the room, Brian said to the owner, "veinticinco?"

Aparantely, bartering wasn't an option with this Portuguese residencial owner. He proceeded to scream no, immediately turn off the lights leaving us in darkness, and promptly escort us down the dark stairs of the chamber while we quickly pulled thirty Euros out of our wallet.

So, in memory of my time in Ireland, I'll end with this description of my time in Portugal - "It was grand." And now, some pictures ...

view from the plane en route to faro

faro

the tunnel in albufeira leading to the sea

albufeira at night

Plates of tapas at a wonderful tapas bar we found one evening in Albufeira.

Same bar, same table, different night. We got 'stuck' in Albufeira and ended up spending three nights there.

Now, as I've said, we had brilliant luck finding cheap accommodation in Portugal. This view is from the balcony of our best find in Albufeira. We spent one night in a hotel where we had a balcony with a sea-view and a buffet breakfast - all for €25 a piece. In high season, the room we had rents for €150/night. Granted, it was the most we paid for accommodation, but it was worth the splurge for one evening.

strange, three wheeled vehicles - a common sight in portugal

manta rota

A view of a seaside village down the beach from Manta Rota - Cacela - an oasis we couldn't reach. We had read about this small village - described as having many restaurants serving fresh seafood. We could get to Cacela from Manta Rota via a road or, we thought, the beach. We decided a 2km walk along the beach was far more appealing. Unfortunately, after our 2km walk, we realized that Manta Rota was on the other side of a small, inland river that we couldn't cross.

sagres and espresso, a brilliant combination

on the ferry from portugal to spain

sun setting over portugal

Many times during my week in Portugal, I literally became speechless when thinking about where I'm at in my life. I can't describe the contentedness I feel. I have no regrets with that path I'm chosen - really, I can't imagine myself in any other place. I know I've said it, but the more I travel the more distinctly clear it becomes - I'll never again have this opportunity to see the world.

Thanks for continuing to follow me on my journey. I'll leave you with a quote by Mark Twain. All the best, mk.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."