Ben Murrell

I got up at 10:30am, ate, and went on a walking tour of the Albaycin. I got done at 1:00, then walked to La Alhambra for my 2:00 entry time. I got my ticket at 1:30, then waited a bit and had ice cream, then went to get an audio guide. I got behind two girls who kept asking questions – I thought I was going to miss my entry time… But, like most people I’ve gotten annoyed with for stupid reasons on this trip, they became friends: While I walked to the entrance of the palace, I was lost and I could tell they were too. I said hi and asked if they knew where to go (no) and so we made a group and I led the way. They were Aisha and Lindsey from the San Francisco area – they were studying Spanish in Seville. When I told them my name, they groaned – something about ex boyfriends named Ben… haha. Anyways. We did the whole Alhambra together and then went and got some tinto de verano (like sangria) and tapas at a bar. They had to catch a bus back to Seville and wanted me to come back with them (aww, but I had Barcelona to get to!) I saw them off at the bus stop, got Shawarma and ate it at my hostel. I finally reunited with Oliver. I showered, then met new people in my room. Oliver, Urs (Switzerland, physicist), Ilya, Margaux, and I went for tapas and hooka (shisha). After tapas, we ended up in a cool Moroccan/Turkish hook place with fountains and couches and had green apple hookah and tea. We got home around 2:00am.

Funny story – the night before, I was a bit congested and slept on my back which apparently made me snore. When I woke up in the morning, I remembered a small girl pushing me and telling me that I was snoring – oops! It was so distant that it seemed like a dream… I asked Ilya about it later and it was her! So I woke up to a small Swedish girl beating me with her sheets from across the aisle (we were both on top bunks). She cracked me up when she retold the story – “I looked for anything I could throw at you, but I couldn’t find anything, so I rolled up my sheet and hit you with it. After one time, you stopped for a second. Then I hit you again, harder. I was so tired, I’m so sorry for being a bitch! Then I hit you again and you woke up” this is the part I remember… she said “Sleeping on your back is not allowed! You are snoring! You need to roll over!” So I did – hearing her describe it was hilarious though, how I was “so obedient” – ha! I had her teach me a bit of Swedish for that one, so I can now say hi and bye in the language that I still can’t identify!

[[Commentary]] Granada is one of the few cities in Spain that still does free tapas. As you order drinks, they progressively bring you better and better food. And it’s good – not like chips and salsa… like real food.

I haven’t posted for 10 days because I haven’t been in a hostel with free computers since Prague. I installed the WordPress app for my iPod and it lets me post without long loading times, and it has a horizontal keyboard so I can type a bit quicker. I’m writing this from Granada, España. It’s really hot here!

The last post I wrote, I wrote from Prague. That was 10 days ago. I will briefly describe what I’ve done and where I’ve been since then (yay iPod keyboard).

My path was: Prague, Vienna, Munich, Seville, and Granada. In Prague it rained basially the whole time I was there. I went out on a pub crawl and met a local who gave me a tour the next day (thanks Zuzana!). That night I went out with the same guys from the night before. The next day I left for Vienna by bus. I got there around 5 or so, and met My roommates then I met some more people in the bar at the hostel. We ended up going to a club called Chelsea which was really cool and packed. Ended up meeting a local who gave me a tour after we left at 6 (thanks Julia!). I slept till 3 then got up and went out to get some schnitzel. When I got back I ran into my roommate Simon and we decided to go see an opera. It ended up being a ballet, Anna Karenina. It was good, but I had never read the book so it was hard to follow.

After Vienna, I caught a train to München (Munich). On my first day I walked out to the Oktoberfest fairgrounds and saw the giant Bavaria statue. I walked home then it rained. I met some people from Florida, then some people from KU that I had run into in Florence. Went to the hofbrauhaus with them, then came home. The next day, I went to Dachau, then ran into some guys I met in Prague. Hung out with them and some aussie girls, then went to the hofbrauhaus with them and a guy from Munich.

On my last day in Munich, I went on a bike tour of Munich. It stopped off in the englisch gardens at the Chinese pagoda… Good times. Afterwards, I did laundry and ran into some guys I met In Berlin. We did the hofbrauhaus (again) then went to the kultfabrik club area which ended up being pretty lame. Got back at 4ish and slept till 7. Got up early cause I had a flight to Seville at 1145. Got to Seville around 5 and checked out the giralda tower. Went to a tapas bar and then a flamenco show, and then to some bars with a guy from Uruguay and 2 guys from France who were cruising in their yacht around Europe. The next day in Seville I went to all of the sights.

After Seville, I went to Granada. And this 10 day post just went to 8 or 9 because I’m tired of typing on here! More to come later!

I woke up at 9:30am (10 hours of sleep!) and had free hostel breakfast. I checked Facebook/email, then went to the train station and got my reservation to Granada. The train left at 11:50am and arrives at 2:50pm. I met a girl from Charlotte, NC on the train – she gave me tips for Granada and Barcelona. She had an Andalucia book she let me borrow for the ride. She will teach English and was here to study last year.

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I arrived, checked in, and showered. I came out of the shower with pants on and met Dana (from Dubai) and Kendall. They were going out to a club that night and invited me along. I went downstairs, got a kebab, and met Ilya (Eeevra, from Sweden) and Margaux (from Paris). They were friends that met in London. I chatted with them while I ate, then went back to my room. I met Oliver (from Munich) – he was going to come with us also. I went down, had dinner, sangria, and sangria (somewhere in the middle, I met people from Edinburgh who confirmed that my name is indeed Scottish) with Oliver, Dana, and Kendall. I tried to get a group to go get tapas and then the club – I ended up forming a big group but it had “pink shirt Brian” (annoying guy from New York who was trying way too hard to act alpha) in it and the girls didn’t want to be around him. We split off into a smaller group (Me, Oliver, Dana, Kendall, and Natalie (from NY)). We went to a bar and got free shots but no tapas. The power kept going out there, but it was still pretty cool. Afterwards, we went to a club about 2 blocks from our hostel called Granada  10 (it used to be a movie theater) at about 2:00am. No one was there. We stayed anyways, and around 4:00am it was finally getting good. Danced with the girls, got really tired around 5:30am and walked home – while I was there I talked with Oliver a lot about Spain and Munich.

[[The next day, Oliver said that people were still lined up to come into the club when he left at 6:30am - and that the sun was up by then too. Jeez people!]]

I got up at 10:30am, took a dip in the rooftop pool, then went to the Torre del Oro. After that, I walked to the Jardines de Maria Luisa. Hung out there for a while, then went to the Plaza de España. It’s where the Naboo scenes were filmed for Star Wars. I ran into my roommates and David from my hostel. I joined them and went into the Gardens to find the Plaza de las Americas. We found a fountain (it was 40C out!) and got in for a while (I had on jeans and I had to roll my jeans up, but I had to get in because it was so hot!). After the fountain, we went to the Plaza de las Americas. We walked towards home, found a seafood festival, had chips and beer, then Dave and I climbed the Giralda tower. We came back to the hostel, then went to the grocery store and got bananas, apples, tweezers, and deodorant. We went back to the hostel, then went back to get beer. After we got back to the hostel, I got in the pool for a few hours, then showered and had the hostel’s dinner (paella). At 11 I decided to book Granada instead of Madrid, then to take a 20 minute nap and go out. I woke up at 1:00am. Doh. Brushed, changed, and went to bed.

I got up at 7:00am for my flight to Sevilla. The flight was at 11:45am or so, I left the hostel by 8:45 (1 hour train ride to the airport). I checked in (confusing airport) and got to the terminal / gate fine. On the ride I got OJ and a sandwich but had very little leg room and no window. I got to Palma de Mallorca for my connection, got off of the plane on stairs and rode a shuttle to get to the next plane. I got a front window window seat with tons of leg room and slept for about an hour. I got to Sevilla and caught a bus to the train station. On the way, I saw tons of Kansas City stuff! (Bars, streets, etc). I walked out to my hostel, then walked to the Giralda tower, the fountain, and some gardens with a Christopher Columbus monument in them.

I came home, met my dormmates, and then went on a tapas tour. I got mini-eggs (Quail) and ham and peppers and sangria. I met Hanna and Annie from New York while having tapas, then went to a Flamenco bar with the group. I had more sangria and watched some Flamenco dancers. Afterwards, I talked to Hannah, Annie, and some Aussies. Even later, I went outside and talked to Katherine from Vancouver who will be in Kabul in Barcelona when I am. In the same group, I met Thihaud and Matthew (from France) who own a yacht and were cruising along the coasts of France, Spain, and then into the Mediterranean down to Morocco. I also met Andres from Uruguay. We all went out to some bars afterward but it was mostly young (15ish)  Spanish kids. We got a cab back, and I went and booked Kabul in Barcelona when I got back (There is a festival in Barcelona on the day I’m arriving, so I wanted to be sure to have a place to stay). I eventually got to sleep around 4:00am.

I got up, got ready, and went on the bike tour. Rode bikes through Munich with a pit stop at the Chinese Pagoda beer garden. Had 1L, two white sausages, a giant pretzel, and some sauerkraut. Met some people who were supposed to meet in my hostel bar at 6:00pm. I did laundry, showered, and came down at 6:20 and couldn’t find them. So I had a beer while internetting on the iPod touch, then I wandered over to the Euro Youth Hostel’s bar hoping to find more people than there were in my hostel’s bar. Just as I was getting ready to leave, someone yelled out my name. It ended up being Laurens, Kelvin, and Daniel (from Holland, who I met in Berlin)! I hung out with them, went to Hofbräuhaus yet again. Had 2L of beer there, then went to the Kultfabrik club area when they closed. Kult was ok – the first club we went to was empty at 1:00am. The second was packed, but all locals – none of us had any luck meeting anyone. We ended up caving and catching a taxi home (instead of waiting for the metro to start back up) and I got to bed around 4:00am.

I got up at 11:30am, showered, and felt really hungover. I had a lot of water, and tried to make it to a 1:30pm bike tour – it ended up being at 4:00, so I went to Dachau instead. It was a 30 minute train ride. While waiting for the bus from the train station to Dachau, I ran into the KU folk again. Did parts of Dachau with them and rode back with them. Dachau was powerful. When I got back to the hostel, I ran into Chris and Kantul from Prague. Hung out with them and some Aussie girls till 10 or so, then went to the Hofbräuhaus again with Chris, Kantul, and their Munich friend Markus. Had Munich Salad (onions, 1 piece of lettuce, and lots of sausage) then walked through the city with Markus. Learned “Sevous” to say bye in German. We went to Munich’s University area, then rode the metro back to the hostel. On the way back, Chris walked through the train asking people for their tickets in German – it was hilarious! (He was asking like the ticket checkers, and people bought it and some started to panic).  We got back to the hostel bar, and stayed up till 2:30 or so. I got tired and was going to bed, Kantul and Chris didn’t have a place to stay that night – they were going to stay with Markus, but he was having his girlfriend over. I was going to let them sleep on the floor in my hostel – we all piled into the elevator, then right as the doors were closing, security ran up and started asking for room keys. I got to go up. They didn’t.

On the train to Munich – left at 8:20am and arriving around 12:30pm. Unfortunately, it was 75 euros. Will be in München for two nights, so I’ve got to beer garden it up (another reason for AFD’ing yesterday…) Then: Interlaken! (I think – don’t want to not make it to Spain though).

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Got to Munich, got three nights at Wombats, then a flight to Seville from Munich. Then a flight from Barcelona to Dublin. Walked out to the Oktoberfest grounds… then I came back and met some people in the bar from Florida. I went to shower, then came back down and lost them, but I heard some people talking outside about going to the Hofbräuhaus so I introduced myself and went with them. They were from KU. It turns out I had met some of them in Florence, but I didn’t recognize them. I had two steins (2L) of beer there. They closed, so we went back to the hostel in a tax (it was raining all night). We went to the hostel bar, then to the hostel down the street’s bar, then finally went to bed around 3:00am. I had 4L of beer total… [[bar far the most drunk I was during the whole trip...] I found pictures on my camera I didn’t remembering taking until later – so overall, had too much.

I got up at 3:00pm – the Italians were still asleep, geez. Got dressed, then tried finding hostels in Munich – decided to put it off till I get there because I liked Wombats so much and they were full. Hopefully someone cancels… found out there are no buses to Munich on Monday, so 75 euro train ticket it is…

Anyways, I ended up getting Schnitzel from a small shop, then got a carton of cranberry juice and gum from another small shop. Met Simon back at the hostel around 6:30 and decided I wanted to go to the Opera and recruited Simon. I showered, then we got there around 7:00. It was a ballet (Anna Karenina) put on (according to the Russian lady in front of us in the 4 euro standing section) by the best dance company in St. Petersburg. It was really cool to go to the opera in Wien because it is famous for it (it’s the city of music). After the ballet, Simon and I tried to figure out where / which cafe all of the hot women from the Opera would be going to… but they mostly dispersed, so we went to an outdoor cafe in the main square and had (again, famous) Vienna coffee. Watched people and talked for about 2 hours (ranging from politics to military (he’s been in the Australian army for 10 years) to traveling to motorcycles). He’s going to be meeting his parents in Croatia, then going to camp in France along the Tour de France route. We headed home at midnight – I was going to use my free drink card at the hostel, but decided I needed sleep and that an alcohol free day wouldn’t kill me (aka, would be good).

On the bus to Vienna! Only 13 euros vs 60 for the train!

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Wasn’t able to sleep on the bus at all – got to the hostel in Vienna and crashed from about 4:00pm – 7:00pm. Met Simon (from Australia), Francisco & Bellatrice (from Italy) in my room. Drank a lot of water, then got on the ‘net and also laid out my plan for the rest of the trip. Looking like: Munich -> Interlaken -> Seville -> Madrid -> Barcelona -> Dublin. The only problem is that there are no flights from Interlaken to Seville. The nearest airport to Interlaken is 1.5 hours away and still doesn’t fly to Seville.

After the internet, I went to the hostel bar and sat with Simon and 2 English guys (Rob and Joe). Talked a lot of soccer and foreign politics with them (read: I didn’t say much) and we eventually went to a club called Chelsea. We saw tons of prostitutes on the way – far more than any other city I have been in so far.  Watched a few get picked up – just like GTA, haha! The club was packed and under a railway… it had a very underground feel to it, and there were a lot of locals. I’m pretty sure the bouncers didn’t turn out anyone – there were a few falling over drunk hobos wandering around even. They played a lot of alternative type music, so that was cool (Strokes, White Stripes, etc). In the beginning it was so crowded so I could barely move (around 1:00am). Around 2-3, it was a bit more reasonable so we moved to the dance floor. On entering, I locked eyes with a pretty girl, then walked straight to her and introduced myself, then we started dancing. She was Julia from Vienna. Favorite movie: In Bruges. We liked the same music. Ended up dancing till 5:00-5:30am and left the club with the sun coming up. As I was walking out, Rob saw me and said something like “You’re a sly fox!” – haha. Julia and I walked around Vienna as the sun came up over the city. Since she was from Vienna, she knew a lot about the city – it was a good tour! We had Starbucks at 7:00, walked around a bit more, then eventually parted ways at 8:30am. I got to sleep at 9 (slept till 3:00).