Madrid to Genova

Hello all!

Five months ago today I left my home in the Bay and set off on this journey. I get back on August 15, so that means I'm about a week from halfway. It has felt longer than that, but also knowing that there's an end date and that I'm such a real percentage done with the trip makes it feel short as well. It's funny how those paradoxes and contradictions can exist in my mind without any hint of cognitive dissonance. Nonduality, I guess.

I am writing this update on a train from Genova to La Spezia, where I have a litle layover before heading to Pisa. The weather here has turned sour in the last few days. I am watching a blustering snowstorm out the window as I write this. According to the people at the hostel in Genova, it doesn't snow much out here, but I have seen snow 3 of the last 4 days. Who knew it got cold in the French Riviera? I didn't, certainly. Anyway, here's what has been happening in my life.

MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 16-19
Madrid is gorgeous and very walkable. I was staying in a party hostel full of people about five years younger than me all trying to get damn near blackout every night. Good to see that I'm not that way anymore. Unfortunately, I got some bad news in Madrid that colored my experience of the city pretty heavily.

Highlights include:
- Playing my guitar in El Retiro, the large park in the center of Madrid, for two or three hours.
- Seeing my friend Marta again, who I last saw in San Sebastian (she helped to look for Peter for three hours that night he got cannibalized). She gave me a walking tour of Madrid.
- Meeting Kevin and Lee, two Canadians, one of whom was staying in the same hostel as me. They didn't sleep much on weekend nights and were certainly what I would consider "followers of Dionysus." I remember being on Kevin's couch and watching Lee eat a full bag of egg-flavored chips (they tasted like cold egg) and Kevin eat an entire frozen spinach cube "to be healthy."
- Going to El Rastro, the large flea market that happens on Sundays in Madrid.
- Going to El Tigre, a tapas bar that Kevin recommended. There, you buy a liter of beer and then they bring you all the tapas you can eat. The three of us (Kevin, Lee, and myself) ate six full plates of food and drank three liters of beer - all for 18 euro!

BARCELONA, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 19-22
I had a few more days with Uncle Chris and Rick in Barcelona and then got back to solo traveling. It was good to have a capstone for our time together.

Highlights include:
- Touring the Sagrada Familia. I haven't ever been wowed by a piece of architecture like that in my life. I felt humbled and elevated at the same time. The arcitechture is so organic and alive. It looks like trees and bones and tendons. I imagine the sense of wonder I felt when walking in is what cathedrals would have inspired in people in the Middle Ages - a place so otherworldly you can't imagine that it's actually real but here it is right in front of your eyes.
- A nice tapas meal with Rick and Uncle Chris to celebrate our three weeks of travels together.
- A large market selling produce and meat and some cooked food.
- Hearing a guitar player outside the cathedral in the Gothic area. He was very technically talented but not particularly good; his music sounded like an extremely Spanish Kenny G. Maybe not a highlight but certainly notable anyway.

AVIGNON, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 22-25
Avignon is a tiny French town famous for being the place that the Popes retreated to after being kicked out of Rome. I had a little breakdown in Avignon. I think a combination of the time on the road and February itself and a lack of privacy for so long created a perfect storm in my mind. Some of you may have seen a Facebook status of mine about that. I sincerely appreciate everyone who reached out to me, both on social media and directly. It means a lot to know that my support network is real.

Highlights include:
- The Musee Angladon. I was particularly impressed by some Picasso pieces and a study of dancers by Degas.
- A large indoor market selling produce and meat and some cooked food (sound familiar? I guess I like those). I don't speak French and no one in the market spoke English, and I accidentally bought a raw ham croquette that I thought was cooked and ready to eat. I didn't realize until about three bites in. I cooked it when I got back to the hostel but I definitely felt funny for a few hours.
- Feeding the pigeons some crackers in the plaza outside the market. I've never fed the birds before. 
- A day trip to Arles to clear my head. I figured if it worked for Van Gogh, it would work for me. I ate my lunch in the corridors of the coliseum and went to the Musee Reattu, where there was a whole room full of Picasso sketches donated by the artist himself. I've grown to love Picasso on this trip.
- My own room. Someone or something must have heard my desire for privacy, because I got upgraded to a personal room because the hostel was so empty.

NICE, FRANCE - FEBRUARY 25-27
It was the Carnaval in Nice! Unfortunately, it was also snowing.

Highlights include:
- Meeting an English speaker, Desiree, on the train to Nice. After a few days of not being able to have a conversation with anyone face-to-face, being able to speak freely with someone my age was liberating.
- Watching a dog pee on the train on the way to Nice. The poor people across the aisle from me were so busy in their books that they didn't notice the dog peeing at their feet, and the barefoot kid leading him around on the leash apparently didn't notice or care. OK, maybe it's not a good highlight, but it's so noteworthy that I thought it was worth sharing. Have any of you ever seen a dog pee on a train? I didn't think so.
- Snow in Nice. I was walking through the old city and snowflakes an inch across were coming down. Shopkeepers and employees of almost every store I passed were outside taking photos and videos and selfies. I guess it's pretty rare for a real snowstorm to happen in the French Riviera.
- My own room - again! I paid for a four bed mixed gender dorm but I guess that the hostel was mostly empty so there was no one else assigned to my room for both of the nights I was there. It pays to travel during the peak of the off-season, I guess. Five nights of privacy were really good for my mental health.

GENOVA, ITALY - FEBRUARY 27-MARCH 1
I stayed in a hostel, Ostellin Genova, full of the most amazing people. They helped turn what might have otherwise been a sleepy town into a full and rich experience. And I got to eat Italian food again! It's one of my favorite cuisines.

Highlights include:
- Meeting two cyclists from Switzerland, Ramon and Francisca, who have been on the road for 11 months. They went all over Europe and into Russia and Morocco. We were able to talk about the places we had all gone to, celebrating their good sides and commiserating about their shortcomings. It was good to see that being on the road for 11 months had them feeling happy and healthy, not burnt out and hating travel.
- Going in to an elbaorately decorated church. The paintings and the statues and the gold leaf everywhere were almost too ornate, but ultimately it was very inspiring.
- Learning that it's really Genova, not Genoa like I had always read and known in the USA.
- The snow! It snowed on the 28th and the 1st, hard enough on the 1st that I walked slower than usual and missed my train out of Genova. Apparently it only snows every few years in Genova. I guess I'm bringing the snow bug with me!
- Making friends with the employees at the hostel, people from all over the world - Denmark, Brazil, Greece, Belarus, Italy. One is going to Naples to begin work in another hostel today, and I am planning to stay in that hostel when I go there. It will be good to know someone already.
- Dinner last night. Ramon, Francisca, and I were sitting in the common area talking about going out dinner. Some of the employees and their friends heard us and all of a sudden we had a party of nine heading out to a place personally recommended by a Genovese local who worked there. We had two large plates for dinner - lasagne pesto and linguine pesce. It was the best meal I've had in quite some time, and the great company only added to that.
- Playing the acoustic guitar that they had hanging on the wall of the hostel. The guitar I'm traveling with is nice but the intonation isn't perfect and the size of the neck is much smaller that what I'm used to. It was nice to be playing something that I felt totally comfortable on - and eventually the employees had me play a litle concert for them because they liked my playing, my voice, and my songs! That felt great.

I've been praying recently in the churches I go into instead of just wandering around snapping photos and admiring the architecture. I prayed in Barcelona, in Avignon, in Genova. I haven't prayed by myself in a church in quite some time. I don't think it matters whether it is reaching out to a higher power or radical self-affirmation about the things that need to change in my life, or maybe a bit of both. It's helped me to feel more grounded and directed in what I am doing, and to express my frustrations, uncertainties, and doubts without sitting in a room chasing a negative thought-spiral for hours. I remember how good it made me feel to have people pray for me in South Carolina. I wanted to do that for myself. So far it's been helping.

Hopefully it won't be snowing the entire time I'm in Italy. I'm hoping to see some touristy sights and snow might get in the way of that - although Ramon and Francisca did say that the snow on the top of Mt. Vesuvius was beautiful. I still don't know if I will be crossing the Adriatic and going to Croatia in a few weeks or if I will stay some extra time in Italy, slowing down my pace a bit for my mental health. I don't know what will be best for me yet. But I will figure it out! I haven't had a problem figuring it out so far, and I don't see that stopping. I'll write again in a few weeks.