The update you´ve been looking for..

Hola from San Sebastian, Spain.. This update will be a bit longer, since I am sitting here not doing much of anything...

Ok, so I spend last week traveling through Germany, into Amsterdam, through Brussels and into Paris. I met up with Katie (my friend and co-worker) on Thursday morning, and from there we chucked our stuff into the hotel and went out to explore the city of lights..

Before I get into Paris, let me digress a bit.. I love Germany. I was in Munich for a day and a half and I have to tell you, that it is on the short list of places I could picture myself living in. It has parks, beer halls, culture, history, beer halls, parks, beer halls, beer halls.. Er, sorry.. I also took a side trip into Amsterdam to explore what everyone says is one of the most beautiful cities in Northern Europe - blech! I am SURE there is more to see than what I saw in my half-day city hike, but any place that has women in the window beckoning me to come and join them for 20 minutes isn´t a place I could consider beautiful. I left as soon as the train schedule said I could..

Ok, so Paris

What an amazing place! Aside from the fact that everything is incredibly expensive (4 Euros for a Sprite with ice!!?), the people somewhat rude, and the air a bit colder than I´d prefer, Paris is, indeed, an amazingly beautiful city.

The first day, we went right to the Champs-Elysees and walked the mile or so (actually, it was much further, but I kept telling Katie that it ´wasn´t that far..´) to the Arc de Triumph, which apparently Napoleon had built to honor the Army of France.. hmmm.

Anyway, the next day we hopped on the Metro and made our way to the Eiffel Tower which, when we got there, we found a line that at first looked hours long, but quite surprisingly, moved rather quickly. Our excitement soon faded slightly when we got close to the ticket booth we were all informed that the very top of the tower was closed. Slightly disappointed, we took the lift only to the second level, which, though much lower than the top, still provided us with an incredible view of all the little Parisians running to and fro on their way to do whatever it is that Parisians do - buy cheese, I guess..

After Paris, we took the night train to Biarritz, which, if you look at a map of France, is right in the northern crook on the Atlantic side where Frace meets Spain. We were there for a night and discovered that not only was the surf pumping - almost overhead, but Biarritz has a thriving surf community, including several ex-pat San Diegans. It was a nice, scenic place, I sort of see it as California might have been in the 1960´s before the surf explosion (beach blanket bingo, Gidget, etc)- laid back, mellow, low-key.. I could live there.. hmmmm

After a night in Biarritz, we took a quick train to San Sebastian, Spain, which is (if you´re still looking at the same map) a few kilometers south of Biarritz, still in the same crook. I love it here. It has charm. Though I am glad I got here yesterday, because walking down several of the old alley ways, it became apparent that there must have been some sort of urine festival going on because, man, some of those streets smelled!!

Well, urine smell aside, this is the perfect little beach community. On one side there is the ´tanning beach´ that fills up very quickly with topless women and those only looking to frolic in the small surf (if someone knows how to combine the two, send me an email..) Ahem, anyway, on the other side there is the surfing beach. Seeing as the surf was very small here, I only glanced at it for a few minutes before going back to the tanning beach (for research purposes, honest)...

So, now I am in an internet cafe, a few blocks from the water, while Katie is jogging on the boardwalk. I have to meet up with her in 45 minutes, so I am off to shower and get ready.. We´re taking the train to Barcelona tonight...

Adios!