Journey Through the Past (and France)

It's now been almost two weeks since my last post, but they have been very full. As I wrote about then, I spent my Easter holidays back in the low countries with friends from the year I spent on exchange there (2008-09). The ambitious part of the journey was getting there, as I planned to do it without flying. As it turns out, I'm a pretty good at being my own travel agent. Everything went off without a hitch.

The bus ride to Hendaye (just over the border in France) went smoothly - it was full of people heading to the beach in San Sebastian, including one of my first-grade students and his family. Part of me was grumbling about not being able to leave work behind, but it also made me feel much more like I actually live here, rather than just being a visitor. The majority of the passengers got off in San Sebastian, and from there it was a guessing game as to which of the remaining small stops was Hendaye. It was particularly fun considering I was reading signs in three languages - French, Spanish, and Basque. The train station in Hendaye is the terminus of the Euskotren system (the Basque region's commuter rail) and the terminus (in the other direction) of the French national rail system. At the Euskotren platform, the station is known as Hendaia, while at the SNCF platform, it's called Hendaye. It was an interesting glance into the oddities of regions with linguistic minorities.

I had high expectations for the TGV train that I took to Paris, and it met them. The staff were helpful and friendly (although their quick transitions into English reminded me how poor my French has become), I had two seats to myself the whole way, and we made a total of only 5 or 6 stops, most of them in the first hour. The rest of the trip was simply watching France fly by in comfort. Upon arrival in Paris, I realized I wasn't going to see any of the city if I took the metro to my hostel, so I walked from Gare Montparnasse to my hostel near Gare du Nord, which took about an hour and a half. It was a slight shock to be in such a big city again, but Paris is always fun to look at. Perhaps the most memorable part of my walk was near the Île-de-la-Cité, when a young man decided to throw himself on the ground in front of me in a push-up position and crabwalk to prevent me from passing. Not able to yell at him in French, I let another pedestrian's right foot do the work of clearing the way, and then checked to make sure I hadn't been robbed.

After a fairly uneventful stay at the hostel, I woke up at 6 and walked to Gare du Nord, where I ordered a muffin and thanked the woman in Spanish (a habit that took me a few days to kick). My Thalys train left just after 7, making one stop in Brussels before dropping me at Liège 5 minutes after the hourly train to Maastricht. I wasted time by reading Metro, the free newspaper available in train stations, and made it to Maastricht a little before 11. The whole journey took a little over 24 hours (with a sleep in a bed included), and was generally comfortable.

The rest of my week was like updating an old photo album. I went to Guillaume's house in Louvain-la-Neuve (near Brussels) with Chris, where we played croquet, enjoyed his mom's always amazing cooking (including waffles, which somehow are always on the menu when I'm around), and enjoyed sunny 25°C weather, for which I had to borrow shorts and flip-flops. Once we got back to Maastricht, I whiled away a pleasant 3 days hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones, playing soccer by the medieval city walls, and brushing up on my Dutch. I actually feel like I've improved simply by virtue of being more accustomed to speaking a second language. On Friday, I left Maastricht with Rene, Guillaume and Chris to go to Nijmegen, where Rene's sister lives, to enjoy the Queen's Night celebration. The following morning, we headed to Amsterdam to celebrate Queen's Day (the annual celebration of the Queen's birthday, a public holiday and tax holiday). I spent only a few hours there before heading to the airport for my flight back to Madrid, from whence I caught the bus to Logroño and arrived back, exhausted, at 5 AM.

Altogether, it was an enjoyable trip that reminded me of the little things I forgot about my year in Holland, like the impossible-to-navigate train ticketing system and the fun-sounding language. But mostly, it was nice to see my friends again and enjoy their company with no other responsibilities. I was also happy to find out that Spain got drenched with rain while I was gone, while Holland and Belgium were both almost perfectly sunny and warm.

Near Guillaume's house in Louvain-la-Neuve.

On the east side of the Maas.

Market Square in Maastricht.

Queen's Day in Amsterdam.

A little souvenir of the Dutch language - "I'm the boss."

On the Road Again, After Being Run Off It

The Easter holidays begin tomorrow, the second-longest break I will have during my contract (other than Christmas). Although I have not traveled much since I've been here, I've been reserving this week and a half for a trip back to Holland since I got here in October. Just to make it interesting, I'm planning to go to Maastricht without flying, which means my outward itinerary looks something like this:

April 21, 10.00: Bus from Logroño-Hendaye (just over the border in France)
14.00: Train from Hendaye-Paris (the world-famous TGV high speed train)
Overnight in Paris
April 22, 7.01: Train from Paris-Liège
9.22: Train from Liège-Maastricht.

I'm excited about taking the TGV, as you can probably tell. I'm also excited to see my friends in Holland again, and to be leaving Spain for a bit. I need a change of pace after this happened today:

This week was fairly easy in school, as it was only three days long and there were plenty of special events going on. Today I taught one class and headed home about two hours early. The joy of getting out early quickly disappeared when I stopped by the grocery store. These are some of the only businesses that stay open during the siesta, which also happens to be when I get off work, so I often do my shopping then, when the stores are not busy. Today, following my usual routine two hours earlier, I went shopping at around 12.30, well before siesta. Only three of five cash registers were open, but each one had a line of at least six people, many of whom were loading up before the stores close for the holidays. Needless to say, the wait was significant, especially as I was preceded by a group of around six high-school age boys stocking up for a barbecue (or so it seemed). Quite the contrast to what I remember in Holland, where every cash register stays open, and one store even offers a discount if there are more than two people ahead of you in line.

Another of my regular frustrations is the traffic system here, which primarily relies on pedestrians to stop the traffic by walking into the road. I don't always feel safe doing that, so I often put a foot in the road to indicate my intentions, then wait for cars to stop. But many of them resent having to come to a complete stop, so I've slowly adopted the custom of looking quickly, then charging into traffic. It worked fine until today, when I was cut off by one over-eager right-turner, who passed the car in front of him on the right in a single lane before cruising right past me, inches away. Later on the same walk, I was cut off by another right-turner who, after completing his turn, shifted into the left lane rather than stop for me, nearly shaving a layer off the toes of my shoes in the process.

So as you can see, a little vacation is exactly what I need. I have two more tutoring lessons before I'm completely free, and tonight is the final of the Copa del Rey, Spain's single-elimination soccer tournament (which accompanies its league, but is not dependent upon its results). Real Madrid is playing FC Barcelona in Valencia, the second of four matches in less than two weeks between these two rivals. It should be a nice little send-off, especially if I win the pool I'm hosting.

In unrelated news, I received my absentee ballot in the mail today and will be able to vote in the Canadian election (had it come while I was away, I would not have been able to). That boosted my mood after such a frustrating walk home.

Beauty and the Basques

This weekend, Megan, Eric, and I decided to take a quick overnight trip to San Sebastian, which is about two hours north of us. It's one of the most important cities in the Basque region, although not the biggest (Bilbao) or the capital (Vitoria). If Bilbao is the region's industrial and financial center, San Sebastian is its cultural center (much like the relationship between Edinburgh and Glasgow or Amsterdam and Rotterdam).

In any case, San Sebastian is known for its food and the best pintxos in the world. I was more taken by its natural beauty, however - the beaches look fantastic even when it's too cold to swim, and the surrounding mountains seem to wall off the rest of the world. Although the weather reminded me of the rainy coastal climates of Holland and England (and cities like Seattle, Vancouver, and Halifax), I am sure I will be returning to San Sebastian. Hopefully the weather will be more conducive to swimming when I do.

Until then, here are some photos from this weekend's visit.