After leaving my dear friends in Lisboa, Paulo and Alvaro dropped me off at the train station from where I took the train to Faro, located at the south coast of Portugal. To me famous for beauty of the English golf players ;)Once arrived at the platform of Faro station - a glance at the clock told me it already started pointing out the hours in the late afternoon - I hoped to still be able to catch a bus to Sevilla. This southern city in Spain was my destination and I had to be quick if there was still any bus at all so I asked a girl, about my age who was on the same train, if she knew where the bus station was. She said she would bring me there so together we left the trains. She told me she just arrived back from Lisboa to her home place, which she likes much better than the rest of Portugal and she wished to stay in Faro to spend her life. But first she had to finish her study.
The bus station appeared very close, just literally around the corner and the girl walked to the ticket office straight away to see if any buses where leaving still. No buses unfortunately so I had to spend the night in Faro.
I decided to find a place to sleep, as I didn't bother trying to find a couchsurf host this late. With the Portuguese girl still with me I asked her if she knew any hostel. She said she knew a place which might be a solution, which she described as an university place which might allow me to sleep there. The sumir and strange description made me thinking we would and up on a university campus or something similar.
It wasn't so far away and she would walk me to the place, straight through the center and the shopping streets to the other side of the small area. During the walk she explained that it was the period of students graduating and 'tonight there will be music and party in the city'.
The campus of the university turned out to be a normal hostel with cheap rooms available. I booked a room which I had to share with two guys from Wales, not far from Cardiff, a guy from Bulgaria, a German man who would be on the same bus to Sevilla the next morning, and another strange man who seemed to spend his holidays in the hostel, like other people would spend there holiday in the hotel and it's swimming pool, not discovering what is on the other side of the hotel walls apart from the road back to the airport.
The two guys, of which the older of both who played in a metal band and the youngest was an artist, where stuck in Faro due to their flight being cancelled due to a second and new volcano eruption causing Great Britain to be behind locked walls of ash.
Stuck for two days so far, every day the two were hoping to go home. The rocker explained to me that with the first eruption he got stuck as well, in Tilburg in Holland. Pretty much out of money they were drinking 1 euro wine and spending they days as well in the hostel, or in the park next door where you can find some loud screaming peacocks with their beautiful feathers and strong colors, an other animal of which it seemed to be a mutated Turkey, which the younger one of the guys, who is an artist, described as a 'chickenduck'. You could also find free wireless internet but only in the park.
The next morning a woke up on time to catch the bus to Sevilla, where I found the German man again but also an American man who stole my reserved seat in the train from Lisboa to Faro. Politely I asked him to offer te seat to me and pointed out on his ticket he had a reservation as well. Coincidentally he had the chair right in front so he didn't had to move far. Apparently he paid 900euros for a flight from his town just north of New York to fly to Sevilla. He was amazed when I told him I flew to New York last November for only 260 euros. But he would not have wanted to fly from New York airports as that would be too much hassle taking the train there or parking his car at the airport which was expensive and un-safe. So he rather paid 600 euros more for his holiday of 10 days in Europe before flying back home on a 5 hours flight with continental airlines, which doesn't have he best service.
The bus trip to Sevilla took just more the. 2 hours through smile villages and dry nature. On arrival in Sevilla though, it was time again for the good old touristic family city walks with the many Dutch young families with asking kids and the German older married couples. It could be Sevilla as well as Pisa or Florence. So I decided to ignore the many tourists and focus on the city which has a very different style from Italy though. Incomparable.
First, from the bus station I walked along the river in the direction of the city. The sun was getting through the white clouds and it felt good to become warm after being soaked by the rain the evening before in Faro while being lost in the many crossing little streets in the center of Faro. I arrived at a square full with big photos belonging to a photo-exposition of different situations. I continued my walk closer into the center arriving at the main square. I could walk around here for a long time absorbing the style of the building each with a different look, shape or color. Each of then huge! I will let you decide on your opinion about the style and the beauty of the center by looking at the photos without being influenced by my opinion :)
In between the many tourist being taxied around in the traditional horse and cars, I continued into the narrow little streets trying to get myself lost in this labyrinth of local streets securing a maximum enjoyment. I believe this is the best way to explore little towns or areas and find the best surprises in the most unexpected corners while most of the time you walk alone or between the few locals heading for their destinations.
In my lonely planet I read that plaza de España is really worth a visit so I headed south east, through the many little green spots and patios the city owns, the crossed one of the main roads where I reached a big big park where you could spend most of your afternoon carrying a newspaper and a good book with you, in the shades hiding from that hot yellow fellah in the sky. Every time when entering the sunshine, this moving spot on the ground, either following me or guiding me, reminds me of how far I have travelled south already as this dark friend becomes smaller and smaller around noon. In a few months, when i have reached the equator I have to be careful not to step on her as she will be trying to hide under my feet.With a strawl through the park, leaving on the east side, I reached the plaza of Spain, surrounded like half a moon by a so beautifully decorated building! It was another surprise of Spain. Time after time I feel late with discovering and I think the country of the tapas managed to kick the country of the pasta off the top of the 'list of my favourite countries'. A decenia of new discovering has started.
In meanwhile i was walking here on this square looking at this amazing three floor building with it's balconies. Every single wall being decorated with little squared tiles.
Each little tile has a different drawing and each little tile has a different color.
Many benches along the wall, all made out of tiles, each bench with it's images, again telling you a different story about the important past.>> Daniela, when you are reading this, please accept that you must give this ancient square a visit as I am sure you will love the views since you came back from Lisboa with hundreds of photo's and even more happiness from the tiles there! <<
Unfortunately there was some construction going on in the middle of the square, separated by channels, and connected with poetic 'bow-bridges', of course completely decorated with, yes, with many drawings and tiles! I believe that normally you are also able to rent a rowing boat and slide with your beloved one through the little channels. But now it's a gap of trash. Again I will want to refer you to the photos to feel the warmness and colors on this beautiful moment.
Special thanks to Billy(!!) from Lithuania who was my couchsurfing host in Sevilla, and allowed me to 'cross-sleep' on his two 2-seaters :)
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