Uppfært
12.7.2000

Runar: Europe May 2000

Mail to Runar in Europe 2000 

Pictures - myndir 

place - intended stay in days

Pictures
May-
June

• Mouse here to find July
• then there was June
  with Spain - Madrid - Amsterdam - Iceland
• And here you have found May
  with London - Paris - Spain - Morocco

Subject:
Adventures
in Morocco

I took the night train from Tarifa to Marakech last night. We went first class ($6 extra), thank goodness. It was horrid. The train cart must have been a French leftover from the 1950's, It hadn't been cleaned since. Oh well, once I managed to fall asleep It was fine. Arriaval in Markech was successfull, with the expected onslaught of Taxis Drivers desperate for a buck and would be friends who want to guide you through the city (at a cost). We went over to a nice place to eat, before hitting the medina. The medina is the towns market place. It was vastly supperior to Tangier's. There are litterally miles of allies in a maze, full of people trying to sell their goods. Each area is categorized by type, everything from lether to spices. Shoes, Ceramics, Metal works, Wood crafts, jewlery and and every produce known to man. The sanitary conditions of the food left alot to be desired. I could buy live chickens, or whole animal carcases. I took the plunge into haggeling, I saw a nice hand made lether belt. The inital price was 300 Dhrams (divide by 10 for $30). I offered 50, a price that was initally insulting to the practiced belt maker. I walked off. He came running after me with the belt, he offered it for 200 Dhrams. I simply said no thanks, and continued walking. Then he asked in desparation, what's my final offer. I with a firm voice, 75 Dhrams. He thought about it and counter offered with 100 Dhrams. I continued walking out. After going about, staying firm at my 75 Dhram position, almost getting his acceptance, I gave the respectful give-in at the end and took it at 80 Dhrams ($8). The haggeling was alot of fun. The human interested aspect of this is the type of people they are. These are not at all the sleezy salesmen I'd imagined, rather just desperate people, trying to make a legitimate (black market) buck.

The city here is utter Cahos. Goats, cars, Horses, cabs and people all fight for streetspace. The traffic rules become mere suggestions.

Food: Moroccan food is wonderful. They have been invaded and taken over by so many countries and nationalities, that there cuisine has tremendous variety. I had a fancy three course lunch in an expensive resteraunt today, $10 (700 Kr). And it was worth every Dhram. The culture of Morocco is definately a crossroads. Not only between east (Arabic) and west, but North (Europe) and South (Africa). We have desert nomads, European Business people, Arabic religion and Levi's. The country is beutiful too, there is a mountain range that runs through these parts, seperating North Morocco from the Sahara Desert--That would have been a fun side trip!

I just have to take the culture at face value and try not to be overwhelemed by it all. A shower would be nice though, I won't say how longs it been. The plan is to start heading north now, the next 8 days are going to take me all the way north to Iceland, I've got alot of ground to cover.

Best Wishes, with more to come - Runar

P.S. Thanks for the letters! They never fail to bring me a smile.

Tuesday,

May 30,

2000 6:03 PM

Subject:
Hello Again!
From Morocco

It's been quite a while since I was last able to find a Cyber Cafe, the Portugese don't seem to be big on the Internet. Toledo was amazing. I saw the biggies in town, and wandered the endless maze of narrow streets. The perfectly preserved former capital of Spain was well worth a day.

I came back to Madrid that same day to catch the night train to Lisboa -- Portugal. When I arrived in the morning, I found a nice Big city, with all that there entails. I was in the mood for nothing more than a sleepy town somewhere out of the way. So the decision was made to move on to Lagos in the Algarve -- the southern coast of Portugal. Having met up with several Americans (and Canadians, there everywhere) made the time on the train pass much faster.

In Lagos, people looking to make money rent out rooms in their apartments. These are old Ladies mostly, but being desperate for a place to stay, I and a friend took the woman up on her offer. For eight dollars, I got a nice bed and shower. I had a very relaxing evening and a outstanding Portugese meal, very cheap. The next day I was already anctious to move on, so I decided to take the 45 minute bus ride to Sagras. Sagras was known 500+ years ago as the end of the world, for it's the Western tip of Europe. By this time I had set my sights on Morocco, a vacation from my vacation: something completely different from Europe. Other travelers had the same in mind and yesterday we traveled from Lagos through Sevilla to a town on the Straight called Algecerus.

This morning I took the boat over to Tangier, a main port in the country. This place is definitely completely different from anything I've seen before. The bustle in the streets, the sales people everywhere, and everyone's your friend-- for a price. I figured out the local transit system, you can take a taxi across town for 15 Diham, or a dollar fifty cents. (100 Krònur). Tonight I'm tacking the train to Marrakech, the gateway to the desert (ten hour train ride). I won't get into how hot it is, or how nobody has air conditioning, that all goes without saying. The hardest thing for me to see is the kids running around begging for food. . . one stole a fry off my plate at lunch. I threw the rest away, having been discouraged to give kids anything by the owner. I'll probably spend two more days in Morocco, before I return to Spain for Barcelona, then Amsterdam on my way to Copenhagen. Thanks for all your letters, keep them coming!

Runar

P.S. Internet access is a dollar per hour around here, if it wasn't for the keyboard, I'd be able to write a bit more. I'll hopefully have time to go back and discuss some of these cities in dept. So much to say, such little
time. I've been keeping my journal up though.

I´m starting to look froward to the Iceland leg of the trip. Today was Toledo, and tomorrow is Lisbon. The schedule has been changed a little bit, I´ve cut some days from Sevilla, and added a side trip to Morrocco, we´ll see how it goes. Hopefully I´ll be able to email you the changes.

Best wishes, Runar

Subject:
Madrid:
Day 2

The problem with the hostels in Madrid, is that they all start on the second floor (that´s third floor to Americans), and they have no elevators. So I walk up the stairs down the stairs. Either way, after about 45 minutes of this, I found a place. Somehow I managed to book the room, for about $12.50, without the lady understanding a word I said nor I a word she said. We used gestures and the written word.

I took the Metro over to Plaza de Toros, for they sell the cheapest tickets to the Bull Fights. You can´t be in Spain and not catch a bull fight! I got tickets to the almost sold out show.

Next it was over to the Pradro Museum, Madrid's fantastic collection of over 3,000 canvases, including all the greats (Velázquex, Goya, El Greco etc..) It was well worth the $2.50 entry fee. Things seem a bit cheaper here. After admiring Goya´s Black Paintings, I took the Metro over to the other big site in Madrid, the Palacio Real, or Royal Palace. They say it´s the third grandest palace in all of Europe (after Versailles and Vienna´s Schonbrunn, ofcourse). The palace was quite grand. To think, how these people lived lives of immense wealth, through taxation and conquest. Kinda like Capitalism :).

I look forward to seeing the Bull fight, but it´ll probably be quite gory, not looking forward to that. Knowing that the bull is going to be killed doesn´t add much to it. I hear that in Lisbon, the bull gets to beat the crap out of the people. That should be fun.

Tomorrow I´m of to Lisbon for a day. I´ll take the train from Madrid (about an hour ride), enjoy the sites, and come back. Then I´ve got a seat on the 11:05 night train from Madrid to Lisbon, where I´ll be for two days.

Runar

May 24,
2000

Subject:
Last
day
in Paris

This letter was sent yesterday, but I don´t know if it got through, so here it is again. I think the entire city of Madrid is connected through a single Frac T1, and I´m connected to it via a shared 14.000 modem.


Hello from Spain,

Before I get into the Trip down here, lets talk about the last day in Paris. I checked out of the Hostel, locked my bags at the train station and headed for Museum d´Osphrey. It´s a renovated train station, now housing, among other things, Europe´s largest collection of impressionist paintings. It was well worth the lines (long, but quick moving). I tried to quickly move through the Museum, as I had Planned to go to Versi that afternoon. But, since Versi doesn´t close till 6:30 pm, I decided to stop by Napoleons tomb. A rather large complex, with quite a few dead French people´s monuments. Then it was off for the 30 minute train ride to Versi, a much needed brake. I got to Versi by 3:30, and wasted no time in getting started on the Chateau. To say it´s huge, is an understatement. I couldn´t get the Image of Louis XIV ridding around the halls on a horse out of my mind. Add on top of that all the decorations in the rooms, and you have a fantastic building. That would have been a well worth while stop. Versi´s greatest asset though, is it´s gardens. Over 3 km long, and 2 km wide, they are a bit more than just gardens. I walked around for hours, seeing where Marie Antuanet (sp) went into recluse, wandering around the statues.

I was off to the train station, to catch the 11:10 pm train to Madrid. Sleeping on the train wasn´t the best night sleep I´ve gotten, but a much better use of time than traveling during the day. After one train change and 16 hours on the road, I´m now in Madrid. I´ve found a Hostel to sleep in for the night, and have gotten somewhat oriented. I´ll tell you how it goes at the Royal Palace and Puerta Del Sol tomorrow.

Out of time (on the machine). Runar

Subject:
Paris:
jour deux

This morning was spent mostly trying to find accommodations, after that I was off to Notre Dame, I wandered through the Latin Quarter (not Hispanic, but named after the schools that were all taught in Latin). Sainte-Chapelle was the next quick stop -- very kewl, over 6,500 square feet of stained glass. I walked on, enjoying the downtown Paris atmosphere. Then off to the Metro to go to the Arc de Triomphe -- the huge arch in the middle of the even huger roundabout (12 converging boulevards). The street was chaos, made for some good pictures. I climbed the 247 steps to the top (I've quit feeling pain in my feet). The view rivaled that of the Tower. This evening I'm going to check out the Pars Jazz Club scene. It's supposed to be some of the best in the world.

I reserved my seat to Madrid for tomorrow night. I'm going to take the night train, it'll be about a 15 hours. I have no idea about the cyber status in Madrid, only time will tell.

Au revoir for now - Runar

Subject:
Je ne parle pas
français:
jour un

Who ever designed this keyboard should be shot: (a,w,q,m, are in the wrong plqce). Either way, the city is full of atmosphere and out of this world food. This has taken forever to type and is very expensive: I'll talk to you all later.

Runar

Subject:
Day 4 -
Even more
London

Next I decided to catch some lunch, so why not a Trafalgar square (great food district). The advantage of having the day tube ticket (that I've been buying each day) is that if I feel like going clear across down-town for lunch, I can without much trouble. Instead of going over to the Millennium Dome, as was the plan, I decided to go to Westminster Abbey. I catch the Dome at the end of the summer. Westminster is the church that all the kings (for about 1000 years now) have been inaugurated. It's also a role call of the Who's Who in English Royalty and Arts. By that I mean the tombs of all the biggies are in The Abbey. For about 3£, I was able to tour the whole place. It's a good thing that I'm writing these things as I go, cause I'm having a hard time remembering what I did this morning, much less
yesterday.

I'm starting to look forward to Paris, especially the Louvre. . . I'll have to dedicate at least a day to it.

Next letter will be from Paris. Might be a little while before I find a PC there, though.

Truly, - Runar

Subject:
Day 3
- London

Hey,
Day 3 in London has been a busy one. But first, let me tell you about yesterday's experience at the Globe. To say that it was amazing, is an understatement. To see the Tempest in the fashion that Shakespeare meant it was phenominal. It was well worth the 3 hours of standing (no sitting allowed). I was so close, I could literally have reached out and touched the actors. They are very good at getting the crowds involved -- especially the monster. I'm trying to figure out how I can fit McBeth into my travels at the end of the summer. Perhaps I'll sit this time, but probably not.

Thank you all for your replies to my last email. They brought me closer to home. I haven't had time to reply to them yet, but I will :-)

This morning went mostly to arranging my trip to Paris. I'll be leaving Saturday morning around 10:30 on the EuroStar. The plan is to take the boat on the way back to England. It's tough to leave London after only a few days here but, I just keep reminding myself that I'll be back. Quickly, to make up for lost time, I went over to the tower. On the way, however, the Fire Monument was a very worth-while stop. It's a monument to the great fire of 1666, which consumed 5/4 of the main city (http://members.aa.net/~davidco/History/fire1.htm ). It turned out to be a bit more than I expected, the hike up the 350 to the top of the monument. One thing's for sure, I'll be in shape at the end of the summer.

Turns out that the London Tower, isn't a tower at all, but a full castle. In fact, it is names after a tower, the White Tower, which resides within the walls. Despite all the hype, the tower was not a disappointment. I walked through it with amazement. It was like something right out of Walt Disney, only better. I couldn't help but imagine the castle as it must have been 500 years ago, and the people that have walked those same halls.

Time was ticking, so I went down to the tubes and rode over to the British Museum. It was like walking through the Encyclopedia Britannica. A wonderful chronicle of man from Pre-Historic to modern day. The Museum was huge, but well worth the time.

With little time to spare, I went off to the Hostel to shower and change clothes, for I had a play to watch. I bought tickets to "The Woman In Black" earlier in the day. It's a small show that's been running in the Fortune Theater for over 10 years now. The Play was a very good ghost story. The actors were able to make very good use of the stage and props, without alot of pageantry.

O.K., I must retire now. It's almost midnight, and I've still got to catch the tube back to the Hostel. I'll hopefully write again tomorrow, after (according to the plan) the Changing of the Guards (a must I've heard) and the Millennium Dome at Greenwich. Talk to ya'll later :)

Runar

P.S. For those whom I've just added, check out the "official" trip
site/archive at: http://www.gopfrettir.net/runar.htm

Subject:
Day two
in London

I've grown quite fond of the city. There's tons of cultural life, and so much to do. It's amazing how many tourists there are, but if you look close enough you can find the real Londoners looming in the shadows. I've made good use of the tubes. They quickly get me from A to B, especially on a rather cold and windy day such as today. The National Gallery was a great way to spend the afternoon. This morning I started out with the Millenum wheel, a 450 foot wheel where for about 7.50£ you can take 30 minute spin (that's one revolution). It was an amazing view, with then mostly clear skies. Lunch was spent on a boat tour of the River Thames This evening it's on to the Globe for the Tempest, where I have a ticket for the pit. The pit is where the pesants were seated in Bill's time. Today it's where those who don't mind standing get to be within spitting distance of the stage.

That's all for now :)
Runar

P.S. I've had some trouble with the dist. list, and am trying something different, it would be great if a few of you replied just to say "I got it!"

Thanks :)

Sent:
Tuesday,
May 16, 2000
1:00 PM

Subject:
Made it
to London

Continental Flight 4 leaving Huston for London on 5/15/00 at 6:40 PM - arriving 9:55 AM

London - 4

oo -- oo -- oo -- oo -- oo

Hey Guys,
I've made it to London without any problems. This morning I checked myself into the hostel right accross from St. Paul's. It seems like a nice place.
After having taken care of currency and stuff I did the free tour of St. Paul's Catherdal. I've since spent the past two hours on one of those double decker busses getting aquanted with all of the sites. I'm now in a cyber cafe right accross from Piccadilly Circus. It looks as though I'll be quite busy these next few days if I'm even going to scratch the surface of London.

Subject:

Runar's
first
status
report

Hello,

This the full Itinerary for Europe. Things will change, some things aren't exact (especially around the Iceland trip). I've just about finished the packing, and It looks as if It's all going to fit. See you soon (some in Europe, some after). You will all be with me in spirit!

Pictures
May-
June

• Mouse here to find July
• then there was June
  with Spain - Madrid - Amsterdam - Iceland
• And here you have found May
  with London - Paris - Spain - Morocco