{"id":569,"date":"2017-03-26T12:14:45","date_gmt":"2017-03-26T16:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/takethepatience.com\/?p=569"},"modified":"2017-03-26T12:14:45","modified_gmt":"2017-03-26T16:14:45","slug":"portugal-spain-and-sweden-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/takethepatience.com\/?p=569","title":{"rendered":"Portugal, Spain, and Sweden 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, December 19th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

After spending 10 months hunting the elusive comedy career yeti in the London jungles, I decided to end my campaign and head back to Boston.\u00a0 I had heard rumors of this beast and even caught a brief glimpse of her on top of Audition Mountain but I had not the patience or mountain climbing equipment necessary to continue my pursuit. But before my return to Boston, I made it my duty to perform a month tour of Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Florida and then onto Boston.\u00a0 And by Florida, I don\u2019t mean the sensational vacation destination of the town Florida, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

On the day of my departure, on the way to the airport, I met my friend Howard for tea at the caf\u00e9 called Eat near the Holburn tube station in London.\u00a0 Howard has produced a few of my videos and a radio show pilot that I was neatly a part of.\u00a0 Although it was cold and raw outside, the front double doors were open.\u00a0 After obtaining permission from an employee, I closed the doors but the well-dressed, coldly attractive manager lady promptly opened them again.\u00a0 She repeated this action again after someone else closed the doors.\u00a0 As the chill barged into the caf\u00e9, I began to suspect that this caf\u00e9 was a training ground for James Bond movie villains that would learn to be immune to pain and suffering.<\/p>\n

Howard and I left the caf\u00e9 and gave each other a hug that was heterosexually balanced with a gloved handshake.\u00a0 I then made my way to Gatwick Airport and boarded a plane to Faro, Portugal which, per my instructions, located itself on the southern coast of Portugal.\u00a0 Once in the Faro airport, I took a bus into the city and to Hotel Sol Algarve, my elaborate camping tent for the next two nights.\u00a0 I entered my tiny room that seemed to be intended for 2-dimensional people or small ghosts.<\/p>\n

Eager to eat, I recklessly left the hotel without a shower and found a nice restaurant by the name of Tasca Do Ricky.\u00a0 Upon entering, I saw only one group eating at a table.\u00a0 As I walked further, one of the men eating stood up from the table and approached me.\u00a0 I was surprised and cautiously psyched that a random customer was so vested in my Tasca Do Ricky experience that he decided to show me around.\u00a0 It turned out that I had won the Tasca Do Ricky lottery since this was Ricky himself.<\/p>\n

Winning the TDR lottery was no small thing.\u00a0 As I was the only customer, Ricky made my face sample so much food (half of which was not charged for).\u00a0 Before my main entr\u00e9e of grilled sea bass, he peppered me with bread and olives, tasty carrots, sardines and after dinner was complete, he gave me some of his wife\u2019s homemade chocolate.\u00a0 Throughout the meal, Ricky and I chatted like chat champs.\u00a0 When I told him I was a comic, he told me some joke that a Portuguese comedian did that involved comparing his guy device to a cinnamon stick (whatever it takes, people).\u00a0 So basically, Ricky was a walking, talking high-5.<\/p>\n

I settled up with Ricky and wandered the quiet streets of this small city like a hooker that is terrible at attracting customers.\u00a0 I then returned to the hotel and did the sleep thing.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, December 20th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

Some days you awake and today was no different.\u00a0 It all started with a free continental breakfast on the ground floor.\u00a0 No morning eating awards were in danger of being won by this continental cruise.\u00a0 And the sign that told me that all food must eaten in that room had little effect on me for a ham sandwich and apple awesomely made their way into my pocket, soon to become \u201clunch\u201d.<\/p>\n

I was taught by the best at a young age to exploit buffets.\u00a0 When driving to Florida, my father liked to get on the road right away in the morning without even entertaining the thought of breakfast.\u00a0 It made me think he was made of some strange matter that only needed coffee and maybe a vodka and tonic if there was time.\u00a0 When finally we did stop for food, we would stop at an all-day breakfast buffet where my five older siblings would instruct me on the art of maximizing your buffet experience: putting biscuits in purses, fruit in pockets, pancakes in mouths….it was guerrilla eating at its finest.<\/p>\n

I then walked around the city and purchased some necklaces for my little nieces.\u00a0 My thought was to tell them I got the necklaces from a lovely princess I met near a mountain lake in Portugal and that the necklaces give you the power to slam dunk.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t made any decisions on this so this might change.<\/p>\n

From there, I took the bus to Faro Beach and walked a couple miles down a long thin peninsula.\u00a0 On my walk up the beach, I passed by a guy that was taking pictures of a girl dressed in a tiny sweater, a thong and rubber boots.\u00a0 She would jog down the beach 30 feet while the fella took pictures, walk back and repeat.\u00a0 No matter what the situation: studying in the library, a sex scandal, farming after heavy rains\u2026this lady\u2019s outfit had it covered.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to lie, she looked good in her thong, classy even but it was those rubber boots that made her appear to be an alien space traveler who came from the Slut System.<\/p>\n

On my way back, I walked along a boardwalk that took me by tiny residential cottages and shacks, many of which were a mile from the road, making this the place where pizza delivery men go to die.\u00a0 Further down, I stumbled upon yet another photo shoot on the beach but this one was of a fully clothed young couple in love.\u00a0 It was as if some wholesome Christians decided to protest the alien, rubber-booted slut.\u00a0 Pictures were taken while they lie in the sand and sometimes touched.\u00a0 The whole scene made me never want to fall in love again.<\/p>\n

Viewing a flamboyantly sexual photo shoot followed by the repressed Christian rock photo shoot left me a hungry man so it was off to Tasca Do Ricky for one last meal.\u00a0 This time I ordered a dish whose name escapes me but I\u2019ll describe it now: a sandwich filled with chorizo sausage, beef, and ham, topped with an egg, coated in cheese and resting in a pond of some illicit gravy with a side of fries.\u00a0 When I was done, I felt the need to go to confession.\u00a0 With every bite, I was half expecting the devil to handcuff me to a supernova.\u00a0 I finished up, said \u201cpeace out\u201d to the Ricker and enjoyed a professional-strength sleep.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, December 21st<\/sup><\/h1>\n

Holy crap!\u00a0 The last day on Earth!\u00a0 We\u2019re all going to die like gnats on a light bulb\u2026oh wait, that\u2019s next year.\u00a0 Once calm, I breakfasted and boarded a bus to Sevilla.\u00a0 In Sevilla, I checked into a room in Pension Vegara that was somehow smaller than my one in Faro.<\/p>\n

Just like my visit in 2001, I decided to stay in the maze-like, charming neighborhood of Santa Cruz where roads are more like very narrow hallways, sometimes not more than four feet wide.\u00a0 I then walked to a car rental agency to pick up my car and drop it off at a parking garage because that\u2019s what I like to do: rent cars in cities with tiny, undrive-able streets and pay to park them in a garage.\u00a0 Silly things aside, I planned to leave Sevilla the next day and actually saved $100 by renting the car a day earlier\u2026so lay off!<\/p>\n

I then walked around some more, stopping at small store to buy a Romeo y Julieta No. 3 Cuban cigar and smoked while deciding to trade my walk in for a stroll.\u00a0 Eventually I ended up in a restaurant named Catalina and took down some tapas that were so good; they made me like people again.\u00a0 Afterwards, I sat in the corner of a small bar with a beer and wrote these words like some kind of tiny, tortured, aspiring writer.\u00a0 Sleep.<\/p>\n

Thursday, December 22nd<\/sup><\/h1>\n

This morning I ate some breakfast at La Decana.\u00a0 Upon sitting down, I noticed a very repetitive, annoying sound.\u00a0 I looked at the TV and there was live coverage of the Christmas Lottery.\u00a0 With most lotteries, some stiff chooses a number, somebody wins and you move on with your life.\u00a0 With this lottery, there were two enormous cage balls with several hundred balls.\u00a0 Two children would remove a couple balls and sing the numbers in a simple melody and repeat this procedure until the little stinker\u2019s lungs gave out and two new children were installed for this same purpose.\u00a0 Not only was there a large audience watching this event but it went on all day and was being broadcast on multiple TV and radio stations.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what the prize was but I hope it was not having to listen to that repetitive child number chant ever again.<\/p>\n

I then hopped in the car and drove south towards Vejer de la Frontera.\u00a0 On the way, I get to see something that perfectly captures the idea of how Spaniards are more laid back than most.\u00a0 Ten feet from the highway was a guy taking a piss.\u00a0 The great thing was that had he moved an extra five feet away from the highway, he would have been hidden from view.\u00a0 His spy-like method of concealment was merely turning his back to the oncoming cars.\u00a0 Good thing there weren\u2019t any Roman emperors driving down the road behind him or that show of a turned back could have gotten him killed.<\/p>\n

Soon after seeing the one-man rest stop, I made it to Vejer de la Frontera.\u00a0 I checked into the lovely and yes, cute small hotel or \u201ccasa rural\u201d named Casa Leonor.\u00a0 One of the owners, Paco, showed me to my room and looked exactly like a Boston comic named Chris Pennie but the Spanish version complete with a mustache and a small triangular patch of hair that clung victoriously beneath his mouth.\u00a0 This small patch of hair looked like a yield sign and that\u2019s exactly what one must do when presented with such a mustache: you yield to the stache or get run down like a golf cart pulling onto a highway right in front of Optimus Prime who\u2019s in 18-wheeler mode doing 120 mph.<\/p>\n

After rapping like a native with Paco.\u00a0 I walked around this absurdly picturesque whitewashed town that was perched on a hill and full of tiny streets and alleys.\u00a0 I went to the top of Casa de Mayorazgo and savored some Top 40 views of the town and surrounding areas.\u00a0 Back at Casa Leonor, I wrote my words with the TV on and let me tell you, Texas Walker Ranger is just as lethal when it\u2019s dubbed in Spanish (more so even).\u00a0 I also think that Chuck Norris was given a brand new pair of jeans for every scene.\u00a0 They look like an artist\u2019s perfect rendering of jeans done with a brand new navy blue magic marker\u2026flawless and crisp.<\/p>\n

I then erratically walked around like a ball in a pinball machine, looking for a place to eat.\u00a0 I found a very average place that gave me bread (which I didn\u2019t ask for) and charged me for it (which is very beat).\u00a0 All of this equals a very scientific and dependable equation for \u201cno tip\u201d.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, I went to a great theater\/performance hall next to my hotel to take in some flamenco Christmas music.\u00a0 There were a large ring of musicians that took turns singing in the traditional flamenco style.\u00a0 Another noteworthy element to the night was the older hombre walking around with a gray mustache and massive yield sign on his chin.\u00a0 In the midst of watching this passionate display of Jesus\u2019 birthday music and yielding to the great gray tache, I struck up a conversation with a baker named Juan Ramon.\u00a0 As great as the chat was, the peak of the experience was the combined Flamenco clapping that Juan Ramon and I executed.\u00a0 We parted ways and I made it sleep time.<\/p>\n

Friday, December 23rd<\/sup><\/h1>\n

This morning, Paco made me a nice simple breakfast and helped me locate a few points of interest on my map.\u00a0 He also indicated a great place to watch the sunset.\u00a0 Only in Spain could a man tell you such things without it being a challenge to your masculinity.<\/p>\n

I said thank you and walked over to a nearby \u201ccastle\u201d.\u00a0 After seeing a sign for the castle by an entrance, I went into a small courtyard and encountered no castle employees or any information on what I was looking at.\u00a0 And from what I could tell, there were also entrances into people\u2019s homes in this same courtyard.\u00a0 Eventually I located a sign pointing me up some stairs so I walked up and found a bunch of crappy rooms, some of which were being repaired by workers.\u00a0 The rooms looked like people had lived there anywhere between one month to 30 years ago. One room literally looked like a crack house.\u00a0 There were a few pieces of old furniture carelessly placed throughout the space, a couple mattresses, a ladder and a TV so old, it looked like the original knights of the castle watched the 1284 Olympics on it.\u00a0 Indeed, it was the strangest castle I\u2019ve ever seen and made me understand why we don\u2019t build them anymore.<\/p>\n

But this is something so fun about Spain or at least this town.\u00a0 As with Casa de Mayorazgo, it\u2019s all so casual.\u00a0 There\u2019s little distinction between museum and someone\u2019s private residence.\u00a0 A small sign indicates there is a historical thing you can see on the premises, you go in and you end up in someone\u2019s living room.<\/p>\n

From there I headed over to my car.\u00a0 As I walked down a tiny walkway in the old city, a man heading towards began to laugh.\u00a0 I was the only other person there so I wondered if my fly was open or there was bird crap that was about to strike my awesome head.\u00a0 Instead, he said, \u201c\u00a1Mira!\u201d (Look!) and pointed down an alley that was only visible from his perspective.\u00a0 There were three dogs hanging out, two of which appeared to be having sex for the first time in their lives.\u00a0 They looked stuck together and pretty bummed out about it.\u00a0 If they weren\u2019t different breeds, I would have thought they were Siamese twin dogs.\u00a0 I told the man that I was too young to see this (but in Spanish since I\u2019m blisteringly international).\u00a0 All that was left to do was to walk away from this unwanted dog sex so I did so and stepped into a market that was managed by a guy that looked exactly like David Cassidy (haircut included) but again, the Spanish version.<\/p>\n

Once in my car, I drove seven miles south to the coast and walked around the desirable Trafalgar Beach.\u00a0 While I sat at the point and ate\/scribbled, a fog rolled in quickly, brushing my figure like a pickpocket and soon rolled away.\u00a0 I checked my pockets and fortunately this frisky fog did not steal my wallet.\u00a0 I then drove over to Palmar Beach, opting to walk in the sand without shoes like a poet.<\/p>\n

When I returned to Casa Leonor, I showered, took in a few precious moments of Texas Walker Ranger, ate a meal nearby and walked over to Bar Topolino to watch some more Flamenco Christmas music.\u00a0 Many of the town\u2019s locals were standing just outside of the bar, around a fire while a large group sang, clapped their hands and played guitar.\u00a0 Various people took turns dancing, making it a very special thing for a red-bearded gringo like myself to take in.\u00a0 Beginning to feel like a Christmas voyeur, I decided to head home where I entered a final state of relaxation via the powers of \u201cNuns On The Run\u201d (in Spanish).<\/p>\n

Saturday, December 24th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

This is my 38th<\/sup> Christmas on this handsome planet and the very first not spent in the same house I grew up in.\u00a0 Although a touch sad (especially after my mother told me she came to the same realization after putting my Snoopy decoration on the tree that I made in kindergarten), I was looking forward to experiencing Christmas in a different place.\u00a0 After breakfast and a long chat with Paco, I hit the road towards Zahara de los Atunes.\u00a0 I walked around the small town and stumbled upon a large outdoor tent where the locals watched a live Christmas production composed of people dressed up in various Disney characters.\u00a0 From what I could tell, the voices were prerecorded and played over a large sound system; a sound system large enough to support Santa\u2019s big voice that sounded exactly like Jabba the Hut (HA HA HAAAA\u2026FELIZ NAVIDAD, SOLO!!).<\/p>\n

Next was Alanterra where I scaled a steep hill to a taster\u2019s choice lookout point and lighthouse.\u00a0 This action caused my body to heat up and I wanted to protect my forehead from the sun so I removed my shirt and wrapped it around my head, becoming the urban turban legend that you\u2019ll someday hear about and wonder, \u201cIs that true?\u00a0 It sounds too crazy to be true.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s true, folks.<\/p>\n

Tarifa was the following stop whose historic, old district was much like Vejer but not as awesome since I was not staying there.\u00a0 Although it was sunny, it was not clear enough to see Africa, only nine miles away.\u00a0 This further proved my conspiracy theory that Africa is indeed an urban turban legend.\u00a0 So off I was, back towards Vejer but made a stop at a tiny village named Bolonia where I sat by the sea and scribbled.\u00a0 Chaperoning my writings were the town kitties and the town dog that attacked me with love.\u00a0 All of these creatures orbited around me like canine\/feline satellites.<\/p>\n

I was also attacked by the smell of pot which, in Spain, is a smell more common than the smell of the Dewey Decimal System in a library.\u00a0 As I walked down the beach, the dog followed me so I decided he needed a name.\u00a0 I chose Menudo.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure he liked it.\u00a0 The two of us walked over to some Roman ruins that were only 60 yards from the ocean.\u00a0 Unfortunately, these neat ruins that even included an old theater had a fence around the entire area.\u00a0 However, Menudo was able to find a Menudo-sized hole in the fence that he exploited vigorously.\u00a0 I initially wouldn\u2019t have taken Menudo for such an ardent archaeologist but he seemed determined to examine (and probably pee on) the site.\u00a0 Menudo and I sadly parted ways and in attempts to fill this new emotional void, I watched the sunset and made my way back to Vejer.<\/p>\n

With all of the intention of going out to witness the midnight Christmas celebrations in town, I showered, read, watched a little \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d in Spanish but then fell asleep like a dream weaver that had woven too many dreams in one day.<\/p>\n

Sunday, December 25th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

I realize I didn\u2019t have a chimney in my room nor did Santa have my forwarding address but I still expected to see some presents from the fat guy.\u00a0 Fortunately, Paco was able to deliver some edible gifts in the shape of breakfast accompanied by some chat.\u00a0 All of these chats were in Spanish so my mind had to be sharp like a chat ninja (a ninja that kills with a vocabulary blade, grammatical throwing stars, pronunciation punches and grenades).<\/p>\n

Upon Paco\u2019s recommendation, I decided to take a certain road south that lead to a desired seaside location.\u00a0 I realized the road would get a tad rustic but I did not realize one would need an Imperial Walker to traverse it (if you don\u2019t know what an Imperial Walker is, think of a huge robot horse that\u2019s 15 stories high and doesn\u2019t exist).<\/p>\n

Somehow my car held together and I made it to a small parking lot where I left my car and walked along a path on top of a sea cliff.\u00a0 On my way, I came across a guy staring at a cactus.\u00a0 He pointed at the brush around the cactus that had been cut back and told me this was to allow this somewhat rare cactus to grow.\u00a0 He was clearly psyched about this cactus and just as I was about to make fun of him, I remembered I\u2019m a 38-year old guy that still watches the original Transformers cartoons.\u00a0 Besides, it\u2019s great to see someone stand up for the little guy, even if it is a cactus.\u00a0 I finished my walk and returned to Vejer.<\/p>\n

After napping like a Born Again Napper, I had an extremely mediocre tapas experience at some small bar.\u00a0 With a partially nourished body, I decided to completely nourish my soul at an 8:00pm mass at an old church.\u00a0 Although I didn\u2019t understand all of the words, the mass was similar to any Catholic mass I\u2019ve attended in the US.\u00a0 Just when I thought I got through a normal mass, something slightly odd happened.\u00a0 The priest went behind the altar and came back down with a fake, golden baby that looked like a rich, Victorian child\u2019s toy.\u00a0 Do you remember the lady in Goldfinger that was killed because she was coated in gold and suffocated?\u00a0 Imagine if she gave birth to a baby right before she died and you would have some idea of what this baby looked like.<\/p>\n

People lined up and kissed this baby, one by one, on its lower stomach.\u00a0 As much as I love to kiss things, I stood off to the side and behind a pillar but I lingered for a moment to make sure this was happening.\u00a0 After watching 20 or so people kiss the Goldfinger baby, I decided it was indeed happening.<\/p>\n

The only logical thing to do was to drink some wine so I brought a bottle to the kitchen of Casa de Leonor and shared some chat and wine with Paco\u2019s brother in law, Gustavo.\u00a0 This was followed by sleep.<\/p>\n

Monday, December 26th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

I enjoyed my last breakfast chat with Paco, settled the bill and drove north through some very gnarly mountain roads.\u00a0 I eventually arrived in a small town in the mountains, known as Grazalema which is also the name of the national park I was now in.\u00a0 The town is perched up high, giving its peeps superb views.\u00a0 Behind the town are peaks of rock, making the town look like something, as my guide book noted, from Lord of the Rings.\u00a0 Perhaps it was time to put my Hugo Weaving forehead to use, become Elrond the elf and tell everyone in the town that we have to leave since we\u2019re moving to a magical place to live forever (if this doesn\u2019t make sense, just imagine more stuff that doesn\u2019t exist).<\/p>\n

After checking into the Casa do Piedras, I walked around the town and my ears were again touched by something that seems to be quite common in southern Spain and that is traditional music being played over prison camp-styled speakers in the plazas or older parts of town.\u00a0 All the speakers and music are the same so I assume this is some town or government initiative.\u00a0 Perhaps there\u2019s subliminal messaging in the music that orders you to be awesome.\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s clearly working (I\u2019m saying that I\u2019m awesome).<\/p>\n

When I returned from dinner, I decided to read my book in a common area by the fire.\u00a0 Next to me was a German family composed of a couple in their late 50\u2019s and two fellas in their early 20\u2019s, sitting around a coffee table in comfortable, living room type chairs.\u00a0 The weird thing was that the mother was reading a book in German to her husband and boys that were all warm and cozy underneath blankets. I was as if the power went out a year ago and reading became the last resort for family entertainment.\u00a0 The fact that this intimate family moment was happening in such a common area made me feel like I was watching a play.\u00a0 If all of this wasn\u2019t enough to take me to 1930\u2019s Germany, between all the German words I didn\u2019t know, I often caught the words \u201cHitler\u201d, \u201cStalin\u201d and \u201cnein\u201d.<\/p>\n

While this was going on, I was reading Nelson Mandela\u2019s autobiography while drinking some red wine.\u00a0 And the funny thing was that I was reading a page where Nelson mentioned Hitler, helping create a perfect storm of a situation that would never happen again no matter what scientists or weathermen say.\u00a0 All this action made Nelson and I quite tired so we slept (separately).<\/p>\n

Tuesday, December 27th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

After eating, I left the hotel and got to enjoy, for the last time, the weirdness in the front outdoor foyer which was a triple car seat from a caravan.\u00a0 I have absolutely no idea why they would want this to be the first thing that their guests see but it gave the place a great post-apocalyptic flare.<\/p>\n

I then drove through the towns tiny, narrow streets that gave one the feeling of being in the motorcycle game in Tron where you weren\u2019t sure when you might run into a wall and perish.\u00a0 Making it through, I pulled into a parking lot and hiked through some mountains for a couple of hours because it\u2019s what my body told me it wanted.<\/p>\n

Next, I drove 18 miles east to the neat town on a massive plateau known as Ronda. \u00a0In 2001, I traveled here so it was lovely to be back.\u00a0 What was not lovely was the 100 Euro ($135) ticket I received for making an illegal left turn which did not seem to be posted.\u00a0 I explained to the cop that I was lost, trying to make a U-turn and didn\u2019t realize I couldn\u2019t turn left but he wasn\u2019t having it.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t fight him on it too much since he almost cited me for not having an international driving permit which technically you don\u2019t need in Spain but if a cop wants to be a record-breaking douche about it, he or she can be.\u00a0 Fortunately he backed off that point and required me to pay the fine immediately in cash so I had to follow him to an ATM, get 100 Euros and hand it to him.<\/p>\n

Thank God I don\u2019t smoke or smuggle weed since this experience could have been a hamster\u2019s heartbeat away from the film \u201cMidnight Express\u201d.\u00a0 I looked at my Nelson Mandela book and he said, \u201cCops are pretty shitty, huh?\u00a0 Welcome to my world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, I wasn\u2019t too pissed off about it and checked into my hotel.\u00a0 To lift my spirits, I visited the same, great, little tea caf\u00e9 I visited almost 11 years ago named Teter\u00eda Al Zahra and savored the same delicious Jamaican tea.\u00a0 I highly recommend this jazzy brew whose components are vanilla tea, cinnamon and some sort of coffee liqueur.<\/p>\n

Then, like a baby stroller with the brakes off, I strolled through the newer part of the city and over to the old where streets were narrow and touristy.\u00a0 Between the old and new city is a massive 100-200 meter gorge with a river at the bottom.\u00a0 The gorge averages 80 meters wide and is connected by three bridges, making it a fantastic place to dispose of heretics and salesmen.\u00a0 I then ate lots of for $11, went home, researched my next travelling moves and slept.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, December 28th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

After eating a sandwich at a food place, I walked along the part of the city that lies along the edge of the cliff and savored this city\u2019s ability to chill in such a precarious spot.\u00a0 I then maneuvered my car west along some wild mountain roads that made me feel like a goat on wheels.<\/p>\n

My plan was to stay in a town called Alora for the night so once I arrived, I walked around this town that was perched high on a hill.\u00a0 On my walk, I climbed a hill to view an old castle.\u00a0 In the small parking lot that provided a lookout point, there was a moldy old man that said many unintelligible things to me.\u00a0 At one point, he pointed down the steep hill and over to a small settlement and said, \u201c\u00a1Discoth\u00e8<\/em>que!\u201d\u00a0 A dirty smile came over his face and he said \u201cni\u00f1as\u201d (girls). \u00a0As he kept repeating \u201cdiscoth\u00e8<\/em>que\u201d and \u201cni\u00f1as\u201d, he hit the back of his ears and made some odd motion with his right hand in front of his stomach.\u00a0 He basically looked like a really perverted third base coach that was telling you to go for home and then have sex with something.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s a government initiative to install a dirty old man in every tourist attraction parking lot whose function is to point you towards statutory rape opportunities but if it is, somebody may want to put that on the chopping block first when budget cuts are next discussed.<\/p>\n

Perhaps it was that I felt nothing drawing me to this lovely town or perhaps it was my encounter with the rape sensei, but I decided to continue driving north 12 miles to a small village next to a dam in a valley, known as El Chorro.\u00a0 I checked into a very unique hotel named Complejo Tur\u00edstico Rural La Garganta which was once a flour mill.<\/p>\n

My room was cooler than a go-kart.\u00a0 It had a neat living area with a small spiral staircase leading up to my bedroom and bathroom.\u00a0 The ceiling went all the way up to the roof, giving me that well-deserved cathedral effect that has eluded me up until now.\u00a0 And the view was classy enough to take home to meet your parents: it lead down to a reservoir and accompanying dam and then up to some beefy mountains that clearly didn\u2019t take guff from anybody.\u00a0 The only thing that spoiled the view slightly were the heavy duty power lines that ran throughout the area that slightly diminished the beauty like a few acne scars on the face of a prom queen or a few gray chest hairs in a proud sea of brown on the chest of a youthful man-champ (don\u2019t ask me how I know).<\/p>\n

I then got back into the car and drove up a mountain that delivered a high-5 of a view and looked directly down on my hotel, giving me the sensation of a person that was in a hotel, died, started to ascend to heaven, looked back down and said, \u201cHey, that\u2019s the hotel I was staying in before I died.\u201d<\/p>\n

I then cleaned my figure, wrote some words and looked for food which was found at a casual bar that was also part of a camping ground.\u00a0 I ate my meal right between a wood burning stove and a couple guys playing pool because that makes no sense.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t decide which thing warmed me more.\u00a0 At one point, I had to move my chair so a guy could take a shot.\u00a0 The only thing that could provide the perfect nightcap to this was watching a couple of \u201cThe Simpsons\u201d episodes in Spanish.\u00a0 It was at this point that the dream stork delivered a sleep baby to me.<\/p>\n

Thursday, December 29th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

I went back to my camping ground bar for breakfast and then drove east to Torcal Park to witness some strange rock formations.\u00a0 I then headed south, then east, then north and then east again so I would have something to write about that would annoy my readers (and by readers, I mean Microsoft Word spellcheck).\u00a0 The other reason I traveled like this was because it was the best way to reach my next destination, Capileira.\u00a0 With an elevation of 1400 meters, Capileira is a tiny little village on the side of the Sierra Nevadas Mountains in a region known as Las Apuljarras.\u00a0 I was worried that I wouldn\u2019t be able to kick ass at this altitude but that was not the case.\u00a0 Soon I settled into a simple hotel that, besides smelling like pesticide, wasn\u2019t too bad.\u00a0 Making up for the smell was the little veranda and stellar mountain view.<\/p>\n

After walking around the village, looking for dinner, I decided to eat in the restaurant located in my hotel.\u00a0 As I sat down to write in the bar area, I looked to my right and saw a beautiful rotating rack of CD\u2019s for sale.\u00a0 Although they were the kind of CD\u2019s you would find in a vacant apartment, they were asking $10 each for them.\u00a0 Most of the covers looked like the type you would find on a blog that is dedicated to crappy album covers.<\/p>\n

This CD tower of power was next to a TV that sat on top of a freezer filled with various ice cream treats.\u00a0 Next to that were two kegs of beer.\u00a0 So basically, the purpose of this corner of the room was to someday explain to aliens why humanity failed after we went extinct.\u00a0 Hanging from the ceiling were about 20 cured pig legs for sale.\u00a0 Even though this is common in southern Spain, it\u2019s still pretty damn weird and is probably the initial reason for vegetarianism.\u00a0 And then\u2026bed.<\/p>\n

Friday, December 30th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

This morning, I walked across the street to a small restaurant and made it happen with some breakfast.\u00a0 And yet again, I was given a tiny tea.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know why, but every time I order a tea in Spain, I receive a thimble of liquid.\u00a0 If two GI Joe action figures can\u2019t bathe comfortably in my tea, it\u2019s too small.<\/p>\n

I checked out of my hotel and did a slammin\u2019 five-mile hike that took me north of the village.\u00a0 The halfway point was a tiny deserted collection of houses and buildings, tucked away in a gorge by a river that was built in the 1950\u2019s for people working at the hydroelectric station located right next to the village.\u00a0 Oddly enough, I didn\u2019t see any Decepticons filling up any energon cubes which is weird because if you watch the cartoon, Megatron is a big fan of hydroelectric energy.\u00a0 Wow, that\u2019s two Hasbro references in one day \u2013 just trying to get them out before 2011 expires like some sad, neglected boloney in a convenience store.<\/p>\n

After the hike, I bought some castanets for my nieces which will be well-appreciated by my sister and brother in law as they try to enjoy some quiet.\u00a0 I then carried on south to the coast and then east to the small beach town of San Jos\u00e9 which is located in the National Park, Cabo de Gata.<\/p>\n

I felt a tad like a tumbleweed (or a tumbledude) blowing through this semi-occupied town.\u00a0 Without all the resort humans, all that remained was a skeletal crew of locals.\u00a0 I checked into a hotel and walked around the town.\u00a0 By the beach, I passed by a guy playing guitar for money with almost no one around.\u00a0 As he played \u201cAll Along The Watchtower\u201d, I wondered why he chose this sparsely populated town to play for money.\u00a0 Maybe he played guitar for the government, had a great career playing guitar next to a toll booth coin catcher thing (which is great because people used to throw so much change into his guitar case by accident) but then he pissed off the wrong person and got reassigned to a ghost town.\u00a0 Either that or he simply had bad judgment.<\/p>\n

I then popped into a restaurant with, as always, Nelson.\u00a0 He chose to remain in book form and watched me eat an okay meal and drink beer.\u00a0 Back to the room it was for me for some of \u201cThe Housekeeper\u201d in Spanish where I\u2019m almost certain I saw Boston comedian Tony V briefly portray a bus driver.\u00a0 Tony V is a very funny chap that was on an episode of Seinfeld and on the Discovery Channel so if you don\u2019t know him, you should consider getting a life transplant.\u00a0 I then slept (in English).<\/p>\n

Saturday, December 31st<\/sup><\/p>\n

The last day of 2011 began with two fried eggs, bread and tea (just as I always envisioned it would).\u00a0 I boarded my car which, by the way, has an engine so weak that it isn\u2019t measured in horsepower.\u00a0 Rather, it is measured in ant power or AP.\u00a0 My Corsa is about 10 AP (bad).\u00a0 I drove south to see some fairly secluded beaches known as Los Genoveses and El Monsul.<\/p>\n

I then headed north to an old, semi-abandoned mining town called Rodalquilar.\u00a0 The houses and mining structures were from the 1950\u2019s and were in serious decay.\u00a0 It was so funny to me how tourists were allowed to walk through the crumbling concrete structures and down cracked stairways.\u00a0 One tiny little fart of an earthquake and this place would fall like a house made of wet crackers.<\/p>\n

I carried on north through another beach town known as Agua Amarga where I saw the oddest RV vehicle of all time called the Tanis II by Steyr Puch Pinzgauer.\u00a0 It looked like a lunar vehicle from the movie Moonraker.\u00a0 It even had two rear axles for apparently no other reason than it looks really cool.\u00a0 About 30 minutes later, I arrived in Moj\u00e1car,\u00a0a cute old town atop of a hill that I also visited in 2001.<\/p>\n

I settled into a room in a tiny hotel called Mamabels that had French doors which provided an electric view of the Mediterranean Sea.\u00a0 It was Mamabel herself that showed to me her room.\u00a0 Her real name is Isabel but when you remove \u201cIsa\u201d and add a Mama to the mix, stuff happens.\u00a0 Mamabel was residing in the age territory known as \u201clate 60\u2019s to early 70\u2019s\u201d but still had a sense of style about her.\u00a0 My retro-hottie radar indicated that she most likely took center stage in the Hot Show back in the day.\u00a0 And I could be wrong but I could have sworn I smelled a faint trace of cannabis in the air.\u00a0 Mamabel\u2019s raspy voice convinced me she was smoking something.<\/p>\n

After re-acquainting myself with the town, I went into one of the very few restaurants open.\u00a0 The name was Rinc\u00f3<\/em>n de Embrujo and I literally had the place to myself.\u00a0 The agreeable owner, Antonio, was in the midst of making a meal for his sons but he was more than happy to personally make me a very tasty meal and converse with me about Moj\u00e1car, ladies and other crucial matters.\u00a0 Upon finishing, I thanked Antonio for such a custom, unique dining experience and returned to my room.<\/p>\n

It was about 10pm and the beginning stages of Mamabel\u2019s private New Year\u2019s Eve party downstairs.\u00a0 I was not warned of this and when I decided to sleep, I was challenged to do so as music began to crank on a sound system that would upset the dead.\u00a0 It was a professional seamless dance mix dating from the 80\u2019s through early 90\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Before I go on, I need to tell you about Spanish pillows.\u00a0 No matter the width of the bed, there is only one pillow that matches the width of the bed.\u00a0 So the few times I\u2019ve had a queen-sized bed, my head was resting on a very long loaf of pillow.\u00a0 I\u2019m usually not a fan of this pillow design but on this noisy night, it proved useful since I wrapped it around my head and achieved just enough sound proofing to sleep through Mamabel\u2019s bash that went past four in the morning.<\/p>\n

Sunday, January 1st<\/sup><\/h1>\n

Anyways, after I woke and left to secure breakfast, I passed Mamabel who apologized for the noise.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t believe this older kitty still had the powers to party like a teen (great name for a song, by the way \u2013 Party Like a Teen).\u00a0 I then began to wonder if she was as old as I thought.\u00a0 Maybe her partying habits made her appear older than she really was.\u00a0 Maybe she was only 30.\u00a0 Maybe I should hit on her.<\/p>\n

I decided not to hit on her and did the next best thing which was eat some healthy snacks in Plaza Nueva while enjoying some great views and more stories about Nelson\u2019s life.\u00a0 I\u2019ve noticed something about Nelson.\u00a0 He just blah blah blah\u2019s on about his life but he never stops to listen to what I\u2019m going through.\u00a0 I know he\u2019s just a book but he should pay more attention to my life passages.<\/p>\n

This was followed by some more strolling around and a small lunch at Rinc\u00f3<\/em>n de Embrujo with Antonio again.\u00a0 It was clear to me that today would be a lazy day so I napped, read some more and went back out to eat again.<\/p>\n

This evening\u2019s selection was a small establishment called Le Sart\u00e9n which means \u201cthe frying pan\u201d and this frying pan was frying up nothing but British ex-patriots.\u00a0 The owners, Chris and Toni, were both from England as well and served up good simple food for low prices.\u00a0 On my way out, I ended up getting into a chat with a gentleman from Manchester, England by the name of David.\u00a0 He kindly bought me a couple beers which is always the right thing for anyone to do.\u00a0 I asked him about the ex-patriot bar that I visited in 2001 called T\u00edr na n\u00d3g.\u00a0 He told me it changed hands and that sadly, one if it\u2019s more colorful patrons named Indy, passed away.<\/p>\n

Indy was from Indiana and when I spoke with him 11 years ago, he wove some wild stories about gun-running, the CIA and other Tom Clancy novel-inspiring things.\u00a0 These ex-patriot bars, especially in a small town like Moj\u00e1car, are always more entertaining than laser tag.\u00a0 I always find that they\u2019re basically like a living room for a small, tight community; a community that is living in a self-imposed state of isolation and loves talking to other English-speaking people.<\/p>\n

Then there was Jimmy from Ireland\/Scotland (who was psyched I was from Boston), Juliette who claimed to be David\u2019s daughter (even though she wasn\u2019t), her man Ron (complete with killer stache) and Paul (who was Irish even though he had a British accent).\u00a0 Later on, a dude from Norway came in who, when he was in neutral state with his mouth closed, looked like a normal handsome gent but when his mouth opened, crazy teeth and wild words were the order of the day.\u00a0 Once he discovered I was American, he asked if I could tell my government to stop messing with Norway or the world or something to that effect.\u00a0 His drunken state and teeth that looked like a heavily bombed village made it hard for me to concentrate on what he was actually saying.<\/p>\n

Paul began to intellectually tool on the guy so I figured it was a good time to make an exit.\u00a0 I bid farewell to my new friends and headed towards Plaza Nueva in search of something sweet to eat.\u00a0 I found a restaurant that was in the process of closing but two young Romanian waiters named John and Vasi were kind enough to stay open in order to equip me with a fine mint tea, an extra-large portion of tiramisu and a complimentary shot of Amaretto.\u00a0 When finished with this effective nightcap of drink, food chat, I thanked John and Vasi.<\/p>\n

So it was a great night, one in which I couldn\u2019t go wrong.\u00a0 Even though most everything was closed, I somehow found the right places that were waiting to give me exactly what I wanted.\u00a0 I guess this is how Jedi\u2019s always feel when they vacation.\u00a0 Sleep.<\/p>\n

Monday, January 2nd<\/sup><\/h1>\n

After waking and breakfasting, I drove north towards Alicante which would be my exit point from Spain.\u00a0 On the way, I stopped off at a natural park know as Sierras Espu\u00f1a which is a tidy collection of small mountains.\u00a0 Hoping to go on a noteworthy hike, I drove all around this stupid park finding no maps or information points so I was denied a hike that could rival my rugged nature.\u00a0 To make matters lamer, once I reached the highest, deepest point in the mountains, my car started making a strange banging noise near the front driver\u2019s side wheel.\u00a0 This made my winding, steep, cliff-edge descent more exciting than putting wet bread in a toaster (and the toaster would be on).<\/p>\n

I eventually made it out of the park safely and stopped for gas.\u00a0 As I already paid a premium rate for a full tank of gas when I picked up my rental car and was told I could bring it back empty, I put a small amount of gas in.\u00a0 Annoyingly, this car had the habit of taking a while to reflect the addition of gas so the needle did not move up (even though it should have).\u00a0 As time went on, the needle never corrected itself and continued to go down to the point that I was now wondering how much gas was actually in the tank.\u00a0 When I finally parked it at my hotel, a couple miles from the airport, the low fuel light had gone from steady to an angry epileptic seizure-producing blinking.<\/p>\n

I checked into my hotel which I dubbed The Noise Inn since I could hear people thinking in the next room.\u00a0 The walls were so ineffective at stopping sound I was convinced they were merely holograms.<\/p>\n

Dinner was delivered to my body by Bar Avenida and for dessert; I chose something on the menu that spoke of cake, ice cream and whiskey.\u00a0 The waitress brought me a premade ice cream thing in a dish.\u00a0 She then took the top off of it, put it down in front of me and dumped a shot of cheap whiskey on it.\u00a0 I was thrilled.\u00a0 More sleep.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, January 3rd<\/sup><\/h1>\n

Even though my room was smaller than a geek, it was so perfectly faced south that I was able to watch the sun set the previous night and the sun rise this morning.\u00a0 Because of this, my room became known to me as the High-5 Suite.<\/p>\n

After a slim breakfast, I got in my car, excited to see if I would have enough gas to make it to the airport.\u00a0 I did pass by a couple gas stations but did not stop as I was determined to make my fantasy of running out of gas as I hit the rental return garage a reality.\u00a0 I would push this car to the airport if I had to.\u00a0 The rental company would be lucky if there was a teaspoon of gas vapor in the tank when I was done with it.\u00a0 I did make it to the airport with a few ounces left in the tank (damn it!) and boarded a plane to my next destination: Sweden (via Copenhagen).<\/p>\n

When the plane landed, I walked over to the train platform and took a train over the ocean and into Sweden where my friend CB was waiting to bring me back to his house in H\u00f6\u00f6r.\u00a0 There waiting for our awesome arrival was CB\u2019s wife, Margaretha.\u00a0 This lovely 250-year old Swedish farm house that was full of warmth and Christmas decorations did slightly ease the pain of going from 15 days of pure sunshine with temperatures around 70 to a cold, cloudy, rainy, windy environment that struggled to get into the high 30\u2019s.<\/p>\n

As we always do, we enjoyed fine whiskey, food, petit cigars and remarkable conversation.\u00a0 My theory is if you indulge in whiskey, cigars, red meat, cream sauces, wine, chocolate mousse and brandy as I did, some of these vices cancel each other out.\u00a0 It seemed to work.\u00a0 Zzzzzz\u2026zzzzz\u2026zzzzz\u2026<\/p>\n

Wednesday, January 4th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

This morning brought a healthy breakfast that did not involve brandy or cigars.\u00a0 As dull as that sounds, it was probably for the best.\u00a0 The rest of the day was lazy.\u00a0 I read.\u00a0 I caught up on my sitting.\u00a0 I think I walked in the woods for a while but I can\u2019t be sure.\u00a0 The purpose of the day was the evening when the decadence was eaten, drank and smoked.\u00a0 To ease our digestion, \u201cBroken Flowers\u201d was watched on TV.<\/p>\n

Thursday, January 5th<\/sup> \u2013 8th<\/sup><\/h1>\n

After breakfast, more sitting and more Nelson, CB and I did some food-shopping.\u00a0 On the way back, we stopped into a small glass blowing studio by the name of Incendi Glasbl\u00e5seri.\u00a0 Here we met the owners, the lovely glass blowing couple known as Helena and Espen.\u00a0 Espen asked CB and I to sit down while he made a glass bird right in front of us.\u00a0 As he crafted the bird, he instructed us on the process and even asked me to help at one point which made the experience feel like my wildest, most opulent Science Channel fantasy come to life.<\/p>\n

With the exception of the glass blowing and \u201cBroken Flowers\u201d, the next few days were like another Bill Murray movie, \u201cGroundhog Day\u201d.\u00a0 Each day, I was like a plane joyfully caught in the same flight pattern that consisted of nothing but clear skies, zero turbulence and jazz winds (tail winds). \u00a0I\u2019m still not able to discern where the cigars began and the brandy ended.\u00a0 I think Nelson even got buzzed on some whiskey at some point.<\/p>\n

One thing I must comment on happened on my final night.\u00a0 As Margaretha, CB and I were sitting in the living room, pickling ourselves, CB heard footsteps in my bedroom upstairs.\u00a0 CB thought it may have been a ghost since he believes the house to be haunted.<\/p>\n

On the way up to investigate with CB, I looked for some sort of weapon in case this ghost was a burglar that could experience pain.\u00a0 I settled on a cane with a metal handle since I like to attack ghosts with the one thing they\u2019ll need most when I\u2019m through with them.\u00a0 As long as the ghost didn\u2019t have a crossbow or bigger cane, I felt confident I could handle him or her in a fight.\u00a0 But my chance to prove myself in ghost battle would have to wait for we encountered no life forces in the bedroom.<\/p>\n

CB also told me that when their daughter Pernilla slept in the same bedroom, she sometimes heard someone chopping wood in the middle of the night, 15 feet away in the attached barn.\u00a0 And while I slept that night, I dreamed that I was doing exactly what I was doing at that moment: sleeping in the bedroom.\u00a0 But in my dream that now began to blend into reality, I felt and heard something crawling onto my bed.\u00a0 I struggled to pull myself out of the dream but felt paralyzed as the presence drew closer.\u00a0 Finally, I summoned all of my will and woke myself up to find nothing. Was this a ghost\u2019s revenge for my potential cane attack?\u00a0 If so, it worked marvelously since I never fell back asleep and took in about four hours of sleep total that night, giving my body a feeling the next morning that was squirrely at best.<\/p>\n

So when the sun did rise on the 8th<\/sup>, I began my journey back to London where I stayed one night before flying back to the USA.\u00a0 As I landed in Tampa, Florida, I realized that I had not been to the states in 11 months which made me feel like a drug czar trying to sneak back into the country to attend his child\u2019s confirmation or something. I chose Tampa so I could visit friends there and then seamlessly move on to see my parents near Jacksonville. \u00a0On the 21st<\/sup>, I finally made it back to Boston where I began the grim task of figuring out what next to do with my life.<\/p>\n

As CB drove me to the train station that final morning in Sweden, he told me that he once awoke in the middle of the night and saw what appeared to be two ghosts, an old farmer and wife, watching him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must have been freaked out!\u00a0 Were you awake the rest of the night?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d CB replied. \u201cI fell back asleep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell these ghosts sound like perverts to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes but Margaretha and I were not doing anything so it was alright.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, December 19th After spending 10 months hunting the elusive comedy career yeti in the London jungles, I decided to end my campaign and head back to Boston.\u00a0 I had heard rumors of this beast and even caught a brief glimpse of her on top of Audition Mountain but I had not the patience or … <\/p>\n

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