8:00 am

It's kinda like saving the best for last. I met Antonio at the beach in Sitges yesterday. I first noticed him while I was in the water. He kept looking over at me. God, he was cute. When we left the water, he happened to be sitting pretty close to me. We just kept scoping out each other. It was very frustrating. I knew I needed to do something, but what? How do you do it? What do I say? Does he speak English? He went back into the water. I gathered up all the nerve I had and took the plunge. I went in after him. We swam near each other. It was obvious we needed to meet. Just go over and say, "Hola, ¿que tal?" Mike! So I did! I said I spoke little Spanish. He said he spoke no English. Shit! We came out of the water and he asked if I wanted to sit by him (At least I think that's what he said!) I moved. We talked. Rather, he talked and I tried to understand! I got most of it.

2:00 pm

I found out he's 21, a college student studying fashion, I think. It's his family business maybe. He's got 5 brothers and sisters and lives at home (darn!) We just sat on the beach, occasionally we went into the water and played splashy games. Very cute. But it was very uncomfortable. I said almost nothing. I just listened and sometimes was able to respond. Mostly, I nodded and smiled! Then he'd ask, "Entiendes?" and he'd catch me! He'd laugh and try to explain. Sometimes I just didn't get it. It was extremely frustrating. But it was a great challenge. And I enjoyed being with him. We'd go into the water and play around. He'd grab my foot or try to tickle me. I'd dunk him. Something was definitely developing, but what to do? Finally, around 6:00 pm, we left to get a drink. We talked about movies and music. It was fascinating, but still frustrating. I just wanted to communicate! But I did communicate and that was pretty impressive! Then we just walked around town. Kind like, "What do you wanna do?" "I dunno, what do you wanna do?" "I dunno." So we wandered. Somehow I mentioned the Youth Hostel and tried to explain the he couldn't spend the night, because it's a dormitorio. He didn't catch on at first. So we kept walking.

(edited!)

I made it to the Youth Hostel in time for breakfast (yuk). John from the Youth Hostel and I visited the Templa de Sagrada Familia today. Weird place. The spires are all in place, but the rest of the church is still under construction! It was great to see how a building like that is built. I saw a couple of other Gaudi buildings today. Now I'm on Las Ramblas. Thinking about going to the Olympics area and buying souvenirs!

10:00 am

I'm trying to figure out how to best utilize my remaining time. I'm staying another night in Barcelona. Then I'm taking an overnight Tuesday to Lucerne, where I'll spend three hours. Then I'll be on my way to Brussels and overnight to London, arriving Thursday morning. A long time on trains, but I'll get to see the Swiss Alps! That will be cool. Today, I'm going to the beach in Sitges. Last night, John, May, Ryan (all from Toronto), a girl from Frankfort via Yugoslavia and I went to see a laser light fountain show at the Royal Palace, but it didn't happen. Water shortage apparently. We found a cafe and had a beer instead. I could get to like Barcelona. We ran into a woman on the train who was just returning from Toronto. She said she loved the houses! How funny. The things we take for granted.

6:00 am

Darn that sun! Since it rises at 4:00 am, it's not easy to sleep in on the train. The family left at 4:30, but now I'm awake. Should be to Warsaw in an hour. Interesting that things are written on this train in four languages -- and English isn't one of them. German, French, Russian and something else. This is a DDR train -- it has a map of the old East Germany on the wall.

11:00 am

I've discovered the thriving marketplace outside of the Warszawa Centralna station. It's basically a large flea market. Mostly junk, but some Russian junk that's pretty interesting. They cook and sell kielbasa, too -- of course! I bought a t-shirt for $2. Big spender. Funny thing is, the train trip from Warsaw to Krakow cost almost as little -- zts. 36400 or $3.20. There were some Soviet medals for $3.00 that I might buy. Some nice sweaters, too, but I'm not going to carry them! It's hot and sunny today. I managed to find the Youth Hostel with only one wrong turn. Pretty good. I was settled and out and about by 9:15. Wandered around the train station for a while, just observing. Bought my ticket to Krakow and started at the market. I've got about half more to go. It's very difficult trying to but things here! I love the little Polish Fiats!

12:30 pm

These damn zlotsys. They're so confusing. Too many zeros. I still have over 600,000 left. And I bought a big Pepsi, a danish, a kielbasa, 2 toys, a shirt and a train ticket. Total = $9.00! Pretty incredible. But it's so frustrating using bills worth only 4¢. More than once, I gave the vendor hundreds instead of thousands. Silly me. I'm so confused! And it's only 12:30!

3:30 pm

How rude! I was sitting by the river on this makeshift platform, trying to get high, but couldn't light the pipe because suddenly there were tons of people coming and going and the wind was blowing something fierce, so I was writing a postcard to Matt and Eli instead when a truck pulls up, these guys jump out and start taking the planks away around me, never saying a word to me. Well, I figured I'd better disperse the pot and leave, So I did. I'm still on the river. The sun is shining. It's been a beautiful day. On the way to the river, I stumbled across an Andy Warhol exhibit at the Museum Nadrowe. Cost 50¢ to get in! This place is great!

9:40 pm

Youth Hostels are great. This young Polish couple came up to me and asked if I had an alarm clock they could borrow, because they needed to get up early. No problem. Unfortunately, the alarm is so loud it will wake up the entire hostel at 5:00 am. How fun! Did I mention that it's on the fifth floor? I hope the hostel in Krakow is open at 12:30 when I get there, but I'm sure it isn't. I'll ask at the desk if they know.