Now I´m in Bremen, typing on a silly German keyboard where the Y and the Z key are misplaced, meaning that last sentence was hard to tzpe.
It´s cool, and raining. And, beautiful. I like Bremen so far. I have to meet my Mom and Gary in a couple of hours, so I don´t have much time to see the place today. I did meet a great woman, Claire, on the plane, who is from Ireland, but lives in Spain, and is visiting her Mom in Bremen this week as well. She also happened to live in Bremen and gave me some good tips.
The journey yesterday from Cabo de Gata was smooth. I walked from the farm to Fernan Perez, catching the 7:35 bus at 7:50. It arrived on-time in Almeria and I hopped on the 9 am to Murcia. Murcia was an interesting place. Much bigger than I had imagined, and there must be a university or something there as there seemed to be lots of young people (especially pretty women) in and around the bus station. I arrived Murcia at 11:30 and took the 1 pm shuttle to the airport. It was after I was at the airport that I realized I had arrived a full 6 hours before my flight departs. That´s just how the bus times and schedules worked out, though, and not much I can do about it! It wasn´t bad. There was an outdoor bar serving beer and snacks that had chairs and tables so you can sit in the hot sun. I had a beer and that helped pass a couple of the hours!
So then, thankfully, my flight left 20 minutes EARLY! which has never happened before. I was more calm and collected on this flight than any I can recollect in the past 5 years. I am definitely on a new level in my life, and it is nice. The flight was uneventful, other than meeting Claire. I read, snoozed, listened to music. The Ryanair inflight mag is a trip. Ryanair is this super-cheap, no-frills, budget airline, but the magazine is filled with travel tips pointing you to hotels and other expensive places that around 150 euros a night, or 50 euros a plate, or what 500,000 euros can buy you in Spain. Who do they think flies their airline? I guess rich, frugal types, but mostly people like me traveling on a shoestring. Everything is all polished and hip and expensive in the magazine too, and it truly doesn´t appeal to me anymore, especially after living at Paola´s, wiping my ass with my hand for three weeks!
Anyhow … Bremen has excellent public transport. I rode the #6 ZOG to the bahnhof and tried to find my way to the Bremer backpacker hostel/gast house. I didn´t have a map, but had a really good idea where it was in relation to the train station (bahnhof). I set out in the cool night air with my bare legs (all I brought were shorts!) and couldn´t find the damn place. I asked a couple people on the street and they had no idea. A bouncer at a club suggested to ask a cab driver. By that time, I was a bit cold from walking around and decided, yes, I would ask a cab driver and get a friggin ride! To my disgust and disappointment, the street I was looking for was directly, I mean directly behind, through a hallway/passthrough from the club where I asked the bouncer. The friggin idiot doesn´t even know his surroundings. If it had been daylight, one could see the streetsign from where he was standing. I knew I had a strong idea of where the hostel was! I wasted 5 euros on a very, very short cab ride. The cabbie was unsympathetic to my plight …
The hostel was nice, definitely worth checking out if you´re ever in Bremen needing a place to stay. Excellent beds! oh my! I was impressed. Swankz bed linen for 3 euros. I was in a six-bed dorm. When I got there, three people were sleeping. Nice. Quiet. I was heading straight for bed. About an hour after I feel asleep, this drunk old guy stumbles in, gets in bed and I thought he was going to hurl several times in the night. I didn´t realize he was old until the morning. He didn´t stink, though, and didn´t hurl even though he was making some nauseating noises almost all night long. He was definitely the most uncourteous hostler I´ve come across, and I´ve heard stories of much worse.
I slept in as much as I could. I left the hostel at ten-something and headed to the bahnhof for some food and research. I love the German transportation system! It is so, so, so easy to find information! I walked up to a self-serve kiosk and looked up timetable info for trains to Hamburg and printed out several options for later today. Then I looked up my Mom´s train, because up to that point, I had only known their departure city and time. With a few taps of my finger, I found exactly when they´d be there. The only thing I don´t know now is what platform. That info should be available when I get back to the station, though.
I bought a .50 euro info book/map of Bremen and headed out to see some of the city. Claire recommended the area called Schnoor. I walked from the station to the river Weser, then went way farther along the river than I planned, and then swung around through the Ostertorviertel area back to the Market Square and then to Schnoor. It poured down rain several times, forcing me to take shelter underneath overhangs, joining quite a few others doing the same. Then, I realized I was almost back to the internet cafe I´d passed earlier, and decided with the rain, I may as well be inside doing something. Now that I look outside, though, the sun is shining. My stomach is starting to growl, too. Mom´s on the train and will be here in about an hour. It will be really, really good to see them! I am looking forward to giving her a big hug and even the European double-cheek kiss!
I will post more pics, Morrocan toilet essays and more when I get a chance!
Prost!