AUGUST 2000 - PART 1 

Prague - Paris - Irun - Madrid - Medina del Campo - Lisbon - Lagos - San Antonio - Sevilla - Granada - Valencia - Barcelona - Cerbere - Geneve - Luzern - Calais - Dover - Maidstone - London - Dover - Calais - Antwerpen - Amsterdam - Copenhagen - Munich - Prague

Well, I decided to make this trip a week before I left. I'd been planning to visit my friends in England but as I'd been watching weather forecasts and seen nothing but rain and cold I chose southern Europe.  Actually, I dreamt of Morocco because we couldn't go there last year but as we need a visa to get there and I decided rather late they couldn't issue them so I said that Portugal would do.

I was supposed to go with a friend of mine but she couldn't get enough money so I went with a schoolmate.

We bought an Inter Rail ticket for the whole Europe and left for Paris. After a night in the train we arrived to Paris and bought reservation and supplements for our train to Madrid. Bloody hell, the supplement was 12 Quid. I still think it's really ridiculous to pay 12 Pounds for a stupid supplement but we got to start getting used to it. Then we started searching for accommodation. I had a list of hostels printed out of the Internet and got some more in Thomas Cook's office at the train station.

Finally, we found a hostel. It wasn't cheap (FF 130 each) but we didn't feel like looking for something else because everything was more less the same price and this hostel was just in the centre - 2 minute walk from Louvre which saves money for Metro tickets. And bearing in mind the price of the supplement it wasn't that bad.

Anyway, we had 2 days to see Paris. I still think it's better to learn it on foot than in Metro or those stupid sightseeing buses. So, in 2 days we managed to visit Louvre, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower, Notre-dame, St. Michel, Sacre-coeur, Pere Lachaise cemetery, where eg. Jim Morrison is buried, and various squares, etc.

The following day, after having walked around 20 miles in 2 days we got on the train and left for Madrid. Fortunatelly, we had couchettes so we had a nice sleep. In the morning we arrived to Irun and changed for Madrid. We found a place to sleep without any problems. Someone told us: "Go to the Sol Metro station and then any direction you'll go you'll find loads of hostals." And really, 5 "hostals" in one street. No problem. Hostals are something like cheap hotels but usually in just one floor of the house.

Ours was very nice and the lady as well. Everything was very clean and we could leave our backpacks there and take a shower the following day even though we weren't staying any longer. I liked Madrid very much. All the people are usually amazed by Prado museum but to be honest I didn't like it that much. Just maybe Goya's paintings. There were loads of paintings of Jesus and members of Royal family, etc. which didn't really interest me. However, Madrid isn't just Prado museum but also Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Toros, parks, Santiago Bernabeu - home of F. C. Real Madrid and many more.

We were heading to Lisbon. But there was a problem. We have to go to Medina del Campo wait there from 10 P.M. till nearly 4 A.M. This definitely means a sleepless night for me. Fortunately, I met a group of people and we talked and played cards all night long. In the morning we arrived to Lisbon. We phoned a couple of hostels but in the end we found a "pensao". Suprisingly it was more expensive than in Madrid. Anyway, all 5 of us decided to stay in this room and have a nap for few hours. After having slept for some time we got hungry so we wanted to try something typical Portuguese. 

I don't know if this was a typical meal but it was fish and I suppose they eat it a lot. In every country I always try their national meals. In the evening there was a time for some sight-seeing. The castle was closed so we returned the following day and that day we just walked along streets and discovering. What was amazing was that in those 2 days in Lisbon we were offered hashish 15 times in the main street! 

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