My return to Europe 10 years after my first backpacking trip there was a blast. No Visas, no currency exchanges, no need to show evidence of onward travel. The hospitality of my friends and couchsurfing hosts was amazing. I have definitely learned how to treat my future guests in the right way. [...]

I slept late again, and struck out on a mission for cash and Colombia guidebook (in English). I tried at least four local banks, all of which denied my request for a cash advance against my credit card. One gentleman did point me in the right direction, toward Plaza del Sol, the [...]

I arrived in Madrid after a tiring 8 hour bus ride. We stopped every 2 hours for toilets and food though. Snow covered the ground 2 hours outside Madrid. I took the metro to meet Yair, my couchsurfing host in Madrid. As we chatted, he effortlessly cooked up a great ravioli [...]

 
 
Thankfully not my Capital One credit card, which I had left in my money belt back at the hostel (locked in the top part of my backpack, which I didn’t bother to put in the hostel locker). And it wasn’t really a wallet I’d been using. I had purchased a small [...]

 
I’m on the bus to Madrid. 8 hours – a long haul. About last night…
 
I got a bit of rest at the hostel and took the metro to the stadium – Camp Nou. It was pretty easy. Got to the gate at 8pm, but they didn’t open until thirty [...]

 
I took the metro to La Sagrada Familia, the grandiose yet unfinished cathedral of architect Antoni Gaudi. Upon exiting the metro station, I turned around to catch my first glimpse of the northern facade. Aye caramba – it was hideous!
 
 

 
 
I walked around the exterior to the southern entrance where [...]

My train arrived in Barcelona at 11pm as scheduled. I took the metro a few stops, and walked five minutes to the nearby family run, year and a half old, Mambo Tango hostel. They pride themselves on a friendly, peaceful, clean, respectful environment. The young, dreadlocked Spanish owner, Toti, warned me about [...]

 
12:45 pm
I’m on the 7.5 hours train to Barcelona via Narbonne in southeast France. The weather has turned, the sky now gray and cloudy. We all slept-in this morning. I showered around 10am, enjoyed a croissant, indulged in another pastry – champagne and white chocolate mousse, and sipped hot chocolate. [...]

 
On this day, Magali working a long shift at the bakery, Sebastien took me around the Bay of Arcachon. Biganos, the town where Magali’s mom lived, was at the southeast edge of the bay. First, we drove southwest to the Dune of Pilat, Europe’s biggest sand dune. Formed during [...]

In the morning, we ate bread and chocolate pastries for breakfast, before heading off to St. Emilion, the “wine city” northeast of Bordeaux which Magali first told me about during our time in South Africa. The district boasts 822 winegrowers and 5,400 hectares of vineyards. According to a tourism brochure, the land owned [...]