So, after a weird couple of days at Duruxa, I was pretty surprised that Lizzie and Lauren hadn't made excuses to leave early, thinking what a bunch of weirdos we all were! They're lovely girls, also recent graduates in their first year of The Real World (except their Real World is in Santa Barbara, California… Continue reading Swimming, cliff jumping, chasing horses… and saying Goodbye.
For four months of traveling, my immune system had been perfectly behaved (despite many sudden changes in diet, temperature, altitude and physical activity), but with a week left to go at Duruxa, it finally broke down for a few days. Actually, as I was uploading my last blog post, my stomach was churning like crazy.… Continue reading Chasing sheep, wild swimming and going all funny for a moment
On Sunday, Matthew and I accompanied Jillie and Dane on their first hike in the Picos de Europa and it was amazing. After many discussions with James (he's done a lot of hiking in the Picos), we chose to climb Jultayu because of the incredible view its most famous for – there is a straight… Continue reading Hiking in the Picos de Europa and the continuous entertainment provided by animals
Northern Spain seems like a completely different universe to the South. It's green green green, and the soil is so moist and easy to work with after the hard, dry ground in the Sierra. I think the perfect weather for me would be somewhere between the two... Maybe what it's like in the middle of… Continue reading Cuddling lambs, bottle-feeding donkeys and eating liver…
We were half asleep on the bus-ride from Karen's on Monday... it was siesta time after a lunch of beer and tapa and I did manage to sleep a lot of the way. The journey back to Granada was a lot quicker than it had been in the other direction, even though we stopped for… Continue reading A couple of days in Granada and arriving in Northern Spain
(Please imagine this blog was posted on Monday June 25th) The last week in the Sierra flew by and suddenly we're about to leave our penultimate host! The end is in sight and we're not too happy about it. Had we been a bit more travel-wise/ disorganised/ reckless (whatever you want to call it) we… Continue reading Snakes, Fiestas and saying goodbye to the Sierra Nevada
Our first day of work on Tuesday started at around 9am and we worked until lunch (a delicious spread of pasta, veg sauce and salad) at around one, had a long ol' break and then did another hour or so after the main heat of the day at around 5.30. My day began with weeding,… Continue reading Down & Up The Mountain
After leaving Pierlo's first thing on Saturday (June 9th) morning, we had an hour stop in Toulouse (coffee and crossoint marathon) before travelling onwards to Barcelona. We did part of the journey on a double-decker train (this made me very excited), changing at Narbonne and Figueres Vilafant and working really hard at staying awake so… Continue reading Tip Top Tapas… and other Spanish things.
It's funny... despite the language barrier, I feel more relaxed and more like I'm 'being myself' here than I did at ECOlonie, and even quicker than in Ireland. Maybe it's because there's less people to meet all at once, or because I'm getting used to this travelling thang... or maybe I'm just more comfortable in… Continue reading Markets, hot-pants and getting stuck in to ecological building
I think Matthew and I were both a bit shell-shocked for our first twenty-four hours or so in the Pyrenees. After being spoilt rotten at ECOlonie, and it being far better than we ever thought it would or could be, I think our expectations were a little high for this place. We've settled into things… Continue reading Six days in the Pryenees, building houses from straw, earth, sand and flour
Josephine Hall 