091409 Day One

Day One

Reporting form Asofra, Rioja, Spain

Status: Alive if not suffering from te latent effects of hypotherma

Supplies:
31 pieces of Dentyne Ice
no oxicotin
38 pretzel sticks
2 granola bars
1 ipod, with way too many High School Muscial Songs, thanks Abigail. :) (I love and miss you and Xavier.)
1 role of duct tape. (Never leave home without.)
1 camping knife. (Total mistake -on my keys. GITMO here I come :( )

Short Summary:
-Barre to Lebanon.
-Lebanon to Boston.
-Boston Madrid.
-Metro from Airport to Train Station.
-Bullet Train from Madrid to Pamplona. (Awesome ride excpet for movie Bride Wars in spanish. Utter torture. We can export that crap? No wonder Europeans hate us. Except for me. I am global.. :) )
-Bus from Pamplona to Los Arcos. (This is where I concluded last year.)
-Camped out (almost froze).

Post:

Monday was crazy. Was in constant motion except when sitting and waiting for another mode of transportation. Flight had only 2 infants and not only were they cute as bugs ears but they were also very well behaved. Another item in the plus column is I did not get lost in the Metro like last year and want to cry like a Sally(No comment. Never Happened).

I haven´t really ate much due to all the moving around, although the blue airline food digested quite nicely without incident. Also, as a rule I don´t drink wine, however a small bottle is included on Iberia flights that serve a meal. (I´ll take the free booze any time it´s an option. In fact I had it with the breakfast sandwich thingy as well before we landed. What- I am Europe here, they brush their teeth with wine.) Lastly regarding the flight, I got hit with a Sandra Bullock movie in Spanish (first) before I even hit the train. I barely survived it as well.

Upon arrving in Los Arcos from Pamplona my pent up nervous energy kicked-in hard, in spite of excerizing in Pamplona in the park next to the bus station, and I elected not to stay in Los Arcos but struck out instead to sleep on the top of a freezing cold moutain. Mistake? Yes and I did buy a bottle of wine. (I am noticing a theme here.) Additionally, had a very weird experience walking by the church in Los Arcos and I won´t be speaking to anyone about it.

I survived the cold and the 4 hours of sleep. If shivering uncontrollaby while passing in and out of consciousness can be counted as sleep. I thought I had earned my lesson from back in college but I digress. My goal today is Ventosa. 46 kilometers away. I will report on my progress in my next post. So far the weather has been breezy and fall like and the lanscape has been beautiful and interesting just as I remember. Other items worth mentioning include the following:


I forgot my spanish lanuage book. (Major disaster.)

I forgot my other pair pants. (Better lose the one I brought.)

I forgot about the worsening exchange rate on the dollar. I have about $33 bucks and a MacDonalds for a happy meal with toy. Sorry Abigail, I forgot that too.)

All in all I consider the trip a success so far but I may be biased I am a pathetic optimist (loser). I will keep you posted. Peace out.



Health:

no bee stings

no swine flu

only one near death experiences

about zero sleep unless you count shivering in an out of consciousness for 4 hours. (don´t try this at home.)

1 day without coffee from Bueno Expresso



Milles to go: 406