Three friends set out on an adventure to enjoy the culture of Madrid, Spain, run with the bulls in Pamplona, enjoy the beach in San Sebastian, see the sights of Barcelona, enjoy the beer of Berlin, Germany and see the ‘sleaze’ of Amsterdam, Netherlands. All of this in only a couple days. We never would’ve expected the adventure and roller coaster that would be hands down the most memorable ‘vacation’ ever.

Follow the most insane 8 days of my life:

1. Day 0 – Packing and preparing for the trip (San Diego 7/10/11)
2. Day 1 – We Are In Madrid, Spain! (Madrid, Spain 7/11/11)
3. Day 2 – Sh*t hits the fan…and it smells! (Madrid, Spain 7/12/11)
4. Day 3 – Run for your life! (Pamplona, Spain 7/13/11)
5. Day 3.5 – Ran with the Bulls, Off to the Beach (San Sebastian, Spain 7/13/11)
6. Day 4- The Window of Hope (Barcelona, Spain 7/14/11)
7. Day 4.5 - Sprechen Sie Englisch? (Berlin, Germany 7/14/11)
8. Day 5 – A Street Artist’s Dream (Berlin, Germany 7/15/11)
9. Day 6 – Missed Departure (Berlin, Germany 7/16/11)
10. Day 7 – Red Lights and Window Tapping (Amsterdam, Netherlands 7/17/11)
11. Day 8 – Leaving on a Jetplane (Amsterdam, Netherlands 7/18/11)
12. Day 9 – Recovering (San Diego, California 7/19/11)

I couldn’t believe I’m going to all these destinations. This was going to be one heck of a trip and I’m going to capture every moment! Tim, Jason and myself caught an early morning flight via continental airlines out of sunny San Diego and head to Madrid, Spain. The flight starts off with a 6 hour trip to New Jersey then to our destination, Madrid. We arrived and went through the security checkpoint no problem. Oh except Jason who was frisked down immediately. We board the plane to set off for our new adventure through Europe.

The skies looked so peaceful and calm like little puffs of icecream or cotton. I can certaily understand the idea of a castle in the cloud. The whole flight over I was thinking how beautiful it was to be so high up in the sky.

When I first got off the plane, I could not believe that I was in a whole new country. I’m in Spain! It was a warm 76 degrees and an obviously beautiful day. We grab the metro and head to our hostel, HostelOne Centro.

The hostel was quaint and homey. The walls were of earthy tone and felt right at home. The staff was friendly and I was excited to stay at my first hostel. Hopefully it will be a good first impression. Continue Reading →