SPAIN

Barcelona
The beginning of my last leg started with an overnight train from Milan to Barcelona, Spain, a 15-hour ride.
I was eagerly looking forward to visiting the land where my family ancestors had come from many generations back...

I wanted to see a couple of important cities in Spain, Barcelona, and Madrid.

It was a long and disrupted journey as we had to change trains somewhere in the middle of the night when we first arrived in Spain, for at that time the width of the railroad of Spain was slightly wider than the French... (Not sure if it is still the same now)

Anyhow, we arrived in Barcelona in the morning, and I headed towards a nice Youth Hostel near Las Ramblas, a famous promenade/boulevard which runs through the heart of the city centre street for about 1 km and is lined with beautiful trees.

'Las Ramblas' is quite a lively pedestrian-only street with lots of activities and street performers, food stalls and outdoor cafes and some artists, creating some paintings or drawings and various kinds of art on the spot.
After leaving my stuff at the Youth Hostel I was ready to spend the day in the Spanish for Gothic Quarter...
I was hungry so I walked into a bar/café to see if I could get something to eat...

I remember this well because there were some people in the bar speaking Catalan, no one spoke Spanish in that place, even though we were in Spain, Catalonia has its own language, I knew that, but it caught me by surprise first thing in the morning...

The bartender looked at me and said something in Catalan, and I said in Spanish, Sorry I don't understand...to which he rapidly responded in Spanish and said, "Ah, are you, Mexican?" Yes, I said, how did you know? "I can tell by the accent, manito"...he replied, using that term we sometimes use in Mexico to call someone a friend...

He smiled and said, "Is this your first time in Barcelona? What can I get you?" 
I said, I'd like to eat something for breakfast, I looked around and I could see people drinking coffee and brandy! I was looking at them in disbelief, I'd never seen that first thing in the morning... then he said, "I can get you a nice sandwich, would you like that?"
Yes, please, then he asked... "Would you like a carajillo? (Pronounced cara-hiyo) I said, what's that? then he said, "It is coffee with a bit of Brandy in it, have you tried it before?" I said, never, then he said, "well as it is your first time, I'll get you one and it is on the house!"...

Some other people walked in, and he said to them as he fixed me a carajillo, "Hey, look, we have a visitor from Mexico, he's having his first carajillo!" Everyone was all smiles and they all welcomed me to Barcelona, they all seemed to know each other well, they must've been regulars to this bar, and they all ordered carajillos to drink with me...It was quite nice, extremely delicious, and rather sweet, and the touch of brandy made it hit my head right away and definitely woke my senses up...

My toasted sandwich was also delicious, made with fresh ham and, unbeknown to me, I had just experienced a typical morning in Spain, which for many is their everyday ritual...

I spent the rest of the day walking through the Ramblas and admiring some of the sensational architecture of the Gothic quarter, so colourful, so quirky, so gothic, so unusual, all of which made Barcelona a unique place in the world...

Then, the next day, I went to see the unfinished 'La Sagrada Familia Basilica', an amazing piece of art itself... designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi...wow, I was blown away!

Here's a bit of info on this place: It has been under construction since 1882...Gaudi died in June 1926 after being struck by a tram and was buried in the church crypt. Work on the basilica is about 70 per cent complete (at the time I'm writing this, November 2021).
Now there is a new license to carry on with the construction of this magnificent place, New Zealand architect Mark Burry was the senior architect and researcher at the church from 1979 to 2016 and has been commissioned to carry out this task. 
Burry decided to employ the same drafting technology to solve Sagrada Familia's thorniest engineering challenges on computers before casting them in concrete, iron, and stone.
For such an old construction project, today's Sagrada Familia is remarkably high-tech (learn more). 
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Because of these technological and engineering advances, the current chief architect of the Sagrada Familia, Jordi Faulí, is confident that Gaudi’s grandiose structure — including the tallest church spire in the world at 566 feet (173 meters) — will finally be completed in 2026, the 100th anniversary of Gaudi’s death.
​
After this wonderful visit to Barcelona, it was time to go to Madrid...

Madrid

I had truly no idea what it would be like, but I knew there was a museum I wanted to visit, the Prado Museum.
I got there on October 15 in the evening and got all set at the Youth Hostel...

The next day, October 16...it was my 21st birthday...

There was no one there to sing me happy birthday to you, no one knew it was my birthday but me...
It was my very first birthday away from home and it was just...another day...

If I had been in Mexico, I would've been woken up with the 'Mañanitas', a Mexican song we sing for someone's birthday...my Mum or Dad would normally play a record by Pedro Infante, a popular Mexican singer from my parent's generation. Every year they played that first thing in the morning to all in our family, whose birthday was that day... Mum would go up to my room or I'd come down the stairs and there were usually a present or two... and mum would always ask me, "what would you like for dinner?"... As my Birthday treat... so, I'd ask for whatever I felt like, it might have been bean soup, and meatballs or chicken taquitos... 

Anyway, that 21st birthday nothing like that took place...but to be frank I was not too sad that day, I had already been prepared and had decided what I was going to do to celebrate, and it was going to be my most unusual and totally 'unlike me' day...

I was going to spend the day in a museum! What!?, I must be going crazy!

It was a special day and it had to be spent in a unique way and the Prado Museum was that and more!
I genuinely surprised myself… I could've even shouted to myself...Surprise!!
 I must admit, it was a magnificent day...

I walked into the museum knowing I was going to see the magnificent works by Velazquez, Goya, El Greco, Rubens, and many others, I invite you to view here some of the highlights of this museum... https://vimeo.com/648140614/f7462756b3

At this stage, this museum was the fourth 'major museum' I was visiting during this year abroad and I had learned through experience how to behave in a museum and had learned how to pause to appreciate some of the works...however, I still struggled to be standing still too long at each of the most impressive paintings...I was still a bit impatient...
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I remember thinking...I've spent my birthday in a museum, I must be growing up...

The next day I went to see the Royal Palace and some other sights, and I was ready to head back up north, to Holland, however, there was one more stop I wanted to make...
​Bruges, in Belgium.

Bruges, Belgium

So, once again saving on accommodation with another overnight train, I travelled up to Brussels and then onto Bruges... A 15-hour journey, which was quite uneventful, so I was able to rest just fine...

Bruges...wow! It is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings from the 13th and 14th-century...

It feels like you are walking back in time, and it is hard to believe this town still exists...During WW2, it was occupied by the Germans and spared complete destruction, I believe...

It is an incredibly beautiful town, and I wanted to try a couple of their traditional treats, their Belgium Waffles, and their famous Trappist beer…It is a type of beer brewed inside the walls of a functioning monastery by – or under the supervision of – monks.

I chose to spend my money on Belgium Waffles!  
However, I came across a couple from Mexico while I was walking through the beautiful town, I heard them talking in that uniquely ‘Mexican way’ of talking so I knew they were from my hometown...and I said hello to them in Spanish, and said… Mexicans? and they said, "yes, we are, and you?”
Yup, same here, we got talking and then they said they were going to go into a PUB to try the Trappist beer, and said, “want to come along?” …I said, sorry I'm skinned can't afford that...
"No problem," they said, "we are in celebration mode, it is our honeymoon, "we'll shout you a beer, let's go!" Cool, thanks so much I said, and we went into a great looking traditional Belgium PUB...

The beer we tried was rather unique, a Trappist draft beer with grenadine, it was a bit sweet and was a bit high in alcohol, I think about 21%, and I hadn't eaten anything, I hadn't even had my waffles!
I felt a bit drunk pretty quickly and as we walked out of the bar, I said goodbye and thank you to my Mexican friends, and even though we said, 'let's catch up some time when we get back to Mexico', as you do in most cases when you meet someone from back home, we have never met again...

It is funny how I kept coming across good Samaritans along my journey and in fact, I've come across so many of them all along throughout my life...lucky me...

After that I had something to eat and had my waffles, I don't remember how good or not they were... I was still a bit drunk...and having something sweet after drinking is not exactly a clever idea…

The next day I headed back to Amsterdam and Zaandam...it was October the 18th, exactly the last day of validity of my InterRail pass...and the end of my Europe Grand Tour... It was time to collect the rest of my stuff from Zaandam and say my last goodbye to Arthur and Inge, who generously opened their door one last time for me that night...

I'm back I said, they were expecting me...I walked in, and we stayed talking until quite late that night about my trip, and my experiences.
Arthur got pretty excited about my story and said he would do a similar tour himself in the near future...

The next day we said our last ‘goodbyes’ and I headed back to Amsterdam. I stayed there for a couple of days before travelling back to London by bus where a few days later I'd be catching my plane to the USA... and then back to Mexico...

The end of my journey was approaching...

ITALY!
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CIAO VENEZIA!

I was quite tired from roaming around Vienna after a whole afternoon on my own, so when I got to the train station to get on an overnight train to Venice I was ready to crash for a while...

The overnight train to Venice was exactly what I needed to recover, it took about 9 or 10 hours to get to St Lucia station in Venice...

I remember that it was quite a sight to see first thing in the morning...crossing from mainland Italy to Venice through the causeway/bridge...and...onto a town made of 118 Islands!
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Here are some facts about Venice which one must observe as it is a unique city and there is nothing like it anywhere else in the world, in many ways:

Venice is built on more than 118 small islands and linked by over 400 bridges in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.
Did you know all that?

Well, I didn't at that time, all I knew was that it was a city full of romantic canals and gondolas, not much more than that...
After arriving at the St Lucia train station I took a waterbus (Vaporetto) to a Youth Hostel, right across the canal from the world-famous San Marco Plaza...

Just being on one of those Vaporetti (plural) was a unique experience, I was in love with Venice from the moment I arrived.

Venice didn't disappoint at all, it is all you have seen in pictures or movies, the canals, the bridges the beautiful architecture, it is all fabulous.

I walked everywhere where I could walk, going over those small bridges where the gondolas travel through, just like I imagined them to be.

The Piazza San Marco was packed with tourists, so I didn't want to stay there for long but it is a must-see place, it was also covered with pigeons and pigeons poo, you definitely were walking at the mercy of the pigeons who can drop their load on you any time while you are there... I know...I got hit!

Venice was also the first place where I had my very first Italian handmade woodfired Pizza...I had saved a bit of money for this as they were a bit over my budget and was a bit disappointed...maybe I should've known what to expect...

They served me the pizza on a large single plate, with a knife and a fork...hmmm,  I asked the waiter, what are this for? and he looked at me like I was crazy, and he explained with his hands, it is to eat, then he said in Italian "Mangia mangia" (eat eat)...

This was a new experience for me... I always thought that to eat a pizza you grab the slice with your hand and go for it but this one wasn't thick enough in the centre so the tip of the slice would drop when you grabbed it, pretty flimsy I'd say...So, then I understood why the cutlery...

I was a bit disappointed as I'd never eaten pizza like this before, nevertheless, it was somehow delicious anyway...

After a day and a half in Venice, it was time to go to Rome!

CIAO ROMA!
​
I couldn't wait to see this place, I had some serious expectations about it!

I took an early morning scenic train ride to Rome and it was amazing!

Arriving in Rome was a bit of a shock though, the Roma Termini is huge!
So that in itself told me I was in for a few surprises, nonetheless, it was clean and well organized by Italian standards, so not everything was as meticulously organised as it would've been in Munich, for instance.

From the station I took a bus to a Youth Hostel where the staff guys were more interested in impressing the Swedish girls that were arriving than giving me any attention...they were a bit up themselves, but I guess that's how they are in Rome...

After I had waited for a while I said...Excuse me!... A reception guy looked at me with disdain ...as if I had interrupted him and said..."Yes, can I help you?"  Yes, I said, I need a bed for 2 nights...and nearly reluctantly he sorted my bed and room and indicated where it was...

After leaving my stuff in my room I headed out to the big city to see the most important sights, I only had 2 days there so I had to move fast. 

That first afternoon I went to the Fontana di Trevi, what a magical place! and yes, of course, I threw a coin in as everyone else does, they say it brings you good luck...

The next day it was time for the Colosseum, and the forum... yes! It is as majestic as you imagine it to be, hard to believe this structure was built so long ago and its purpose...you can read more about it here https://www.thecolosseum.org/facts/

Then I headed towards the Vatican in the afternoon, the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, wow, another impressive place...
Saint Peter's Basilica, is a church built in the Renaissance style, erected over the tomb of St Peter the Apostle, is the largest religious building in the world, the fruit of the combined genius of Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, Bernini and Maderno.

It is truly mind-blowing, the paintings and sculptures alike inside it are breathtaking...

Rome was, without a doubt, an impressive place in many ways...especially culturally, however, the local Romans' attitude, I'm referring to the men, was a bit arrogant and self-centered, in my opinion, and I wanted to leave town pronto...

So I left early the day after to catch a train to the beautiful city of Florence!...

CIAO FIRENZE!

​Wow...what a place!

Florence is a gorgeous city...no matter where you look there's something beautiful to see...and people are extremely friendly, unlike Rome...

These are some of the places I went to;
1- The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the world-famous Florence Cathedral. This beautiful cathedral dates back to the 13th century, and it's been built in the gothic style.

2- The Ponte Vecchio is an old, medieval bridge over the Arno River.  The bridge dates back to medieval times when it was popular to have shops along the bridge.  The Ponte Vecchio has 3 arches.
The bridge still houses the shops and is usually busy with tourists.   

It's best to view the Ponte Vecchio from afar, such as from Michelangelo Hill...which is what we did. 
I made some friends at the Youth Hostel and we went to see the sights...and at lunchtime, we bought some bread and cheese and went up the hill, wow! Magnificent views from up there, what a place! (see picture below) …
Then we went to see an unmissable sight...

3- Michelangelo's David...
The famous marble statue of David was created by Michelangelo in the 16th century.  The statue is located in Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence.

I spent most of the 2 days in Florence walking and looking around this marvellous city and didn't really want to leave, but the clock was ticking so I had to go... to my last whistle-blow stop in Milano...

I simply went there to spend a day and catch an overnight train to Barcelona, Spain...more on that in my next post...

I arrived in Milano at midday, and the weather was not very inviting to go sightseeing, so I stayed at the train station, met some people and had a pizza slice...cold and nasty, I'll never forget that...as the vendor wanted more money to just heat it up...it was already a bit pricey, and when I asked he said "You want it heated? that's an extra mile lira"...he said arrogantly... so I said, never mind...it was like eating last night's pizza that was still sitting in the box...

I was tired so didn't want to look around anymore or argue with the man.

Anyhow, Italy was indeed a wonderful place to visit, even though some Italians have a 'unique attitude', there are some others that were just wonderful...and of all the places I visited in Italy, Florence, takes number 1 followed by Venice and then Rome...

Ciao Italia...It's been a wonderful visit to your gorgeous and historic places...

Ciao Bella!

​Europe Grand Tour Part 1
September 19 - October 18, 1981

September the 19th came about and I was so excited!
While I was staying in Roosendaal with the Tolhoeks I started writing down the names of all the places I wanted to visit and planning out my entire journey...and for what I read in my diary, I made precise calculations about my journey (pictured above).

Everything had to be calculated, as my budget was limited and my timeframe was limited to one month too...

I had to make a list of the cities that I could visit within my limitations, how many days I would spend in each place, how many hours it'd take from one place to another etc...
All calculations had to be done 'Old School' with the help of a travelling book like 'Let's go Europe' or 'Europe on a Shoestring'…

My daily budget was approximately $10 USD per day, and that would cover accommodation and meals... there wasn't much 'wiggle room' for any extras or souvenir shopping...

After leaving Roosendaal I spent a day in Zaandam organizing things... I got my money from the Bank, I got some traveller's cheques and I bought my InterRail Pass (it cost fl 450 Dutch Guilder, which in those days was the Dutch currency, it was about $200 USD).

As you can see in the map above I had it all planned out...

One thing I must mention is that one of the rules for the unlimited rides with the InterRail Pass, at that time, was that you could not backtrack to the previous destination, so all stops had to be travelling forward, so I practically did a loop of Europe making stops in 14 cities.
​SEE THE GOOGLE MAP HERE
​
Early in the morning I said goodbye again to Inge and said, I'll be back in a month...
She said..."No problem, enjoy yourself, can't wait to hear all about your adventure around Europe" 

My Pass was valid from Sep. 19 to Oct. 18, and I knew there were a couple of special events taking place within those days, one was the famous Oktoberfest in Munich, I definitely wanted to be there, and the other important date was my birthday on October 16...

It was going to be my first birthday abroad and it looked like I was going to be in Madrid for that day...
​
Anyway, my very first stop after Amsterdam was Brussels, a rather tasteless city, there isn't much I can remember about it...from there I went on to Luxemburg, now, that was a different story, the whole city was so beautiful and I was so glad I made that stop...I nearly skipped it as not many people mention this city as a must...
​From there I went down to Paris...finally Paris, France!

​Wow, what a beautiful city!!
Just like everyone else, I visited the must-do sights of Paris, The Eiffel Tower, The Notre-dame Cathedral, and the Louvre Museum... all extremely impressive places that didn't disappoint at all.

I was also able to catch up with Alicia Vazquez, a friend of mine and sort of relative from Mexico, she was studying there for a while...
All in all, Paris was a great stop!
​
After 3 days in Paris, I took a train to the overly immaculate and organized Genève and then went to Bern, in Switzerland...where I made my only souvenir purchase...

I bought myself my Victorinox Swiss Army Knife with only the basics, but most useful tools...
I still have it!...

​Then, I took the overnight train to Munich, for the Oktoberfest which took place from September 14 to October 4...
I had never seen anything like that in my life!

There were thousands of people happily drinking beer, walking from one open-air marquee to another to try different beers and listen to different bands playing traditional German music all day long...

Many people go to this festival every year thus budget accommodation availability is practically nonexistent!

The only places available were way out of my budget, so I decided to spend the whole day at the festival together with other friends I'd met on the train from Ireland, then late at night, around midnight, we caught the last overnight train to Vienna, so I saved on 2 nights accommodation, one from Bern to Munich and the one to Vienna, that allowed me to have enough money to buy a couple of beers at the festival, and had a bratwurst sausage on bread...oddly delicious...

​We arrived in Vienna at around 6 am, I was shattered.

​I didn't sleep much because the train was full and I ended up sleeping on the floor in a corridor, just like some others on the train...so people were walking over us as we were travelling...

After getting there, I and my Irish friends found a guest house where we could stay for the night, we dropped our gear there and went to have a look around the beautiful city of Vienna...I truly didn't know what to expect...

We got rather lost, but I must say that if there was ever a city where getting lost was the best thing to do is Vienna, it is like you are walking through a museum, there are hundreds of old and beautiful buildings everywhere you look...I was in absolute awe as I didn't quite expect that...

It is like you are playing a part in an 'old theatre play' and the baroque streetscapes and imperial palaces are the stage...
​
The next day we got some fresh bread and cheese from a small local delicatessen and we went to have a picnic in a beautiful park and then, we parted ways, my Irish friends were heading back home through Germany and France, and I decided to go to Venice, Italy next...
It was actually great fun having a couple of new friends to hang out with for a couple of days...

I spent the rest of my stay in Vienna admiring the city on my own and then took another overnight train...
I was now eager to see Italy...More on that on my next story...

AUF WIEDERSEHEN WIEN...Goodbye Vienna...
It was a wonderful and unexpected surprise!

Roosendaal, the Netherlands... (8 Minute read)
2 weeks of patience and gratitude.

After saying goodbye to my friends Marie and Lotta in Eslöv, Sweden, I took a short train ride to Malmö to jump on the overnight train that would take me back to Amsterdam.

That 15-hour train ride from Malmö to Amsterdam was rather uneventful, and somehow a bit quiet...

This time I didn't encounter anyone interesting on the train, and fortunately, I found an empty cabin when I got on board...
At least the cabin was empty for some part of the night, so I was able to catch some sleep...until eventually, some other people got into my cabin in the morning...perhaps in Copenhagen, or somewhere else in Denmark...

I lost track of where we were, as I was again pondering what I was going to do for the next few days while my funds from Mexico arrived...

Fortunately, I had been in touch with a friend of my brother's in a small town in the Netherlands called Roosendaal, located close to the border with Belgium...

In those days my brother, Mario, used to work for Philips in Mexico, a multinational Dutch company, whose HQ was located in Eindhoven at that time, a town near Roosendaal, and my brother had made friends with a guy who worked there called Dies Tolheok...anyway, this man and his wife Laura had invited me to stay for a few days with them at my return from Sweden...

So, when I arrived in Amsterdam I took a quick ride to Zaandam to collect my mail at Arthur's place...

Arthur wasn't home, not sure where he was but his sister Inge was home and as usual, was very kind to me...

She said... "Welcome back to Holland, how was your trip to Sweden?... Come in come in"...
Then she said, "Arthur's gone away for a few days with some friends, but you can stay the night if you want to, you look pretty tired" and of course...I obliged...
Thank you so much...

I was truly tired after the long train journey and, even though I didn't want to impose further disruption to Inge and Arthur's lives, I welcomed the invite...
I also needed a shower badly...

It was early evening so Inge offered me some soup and we sat down to eat and talk about my trip and adventure in Sweden...and we talked about my future travel plans around Europe once my funds arrived...

It was actually quite nice to be there with Inge and not Arthur...there was no tension in the air...

Then I started opening my mail while Inge watched some telly, there were a couple of letters from Mum and Dad and also a letter from my brother Pepe and my sister Silvia and her husband Tavo …nothing from the Bank...

There was no news about my funds yet but Dad said he was going to check on that in the next few days...

It was all a bit distressing but I had to remain calm...

I had a really good night sleep and the next day I got ready to travel down to Roosendaal, once again I said bye to Inge... and she said as I was leaving...
"You know you have a place here to stay if you need to... you can come back any time, just let me know... Ok?"
Wow... that generosity was beyond my understanding and I thanked her again and walked to the train station...

I caught a train to Amsterdam and then I took a quick 2-hour train ride to Roosendaal...
When I arrived in Roosendaal, Dies was waiting for me at the train station...

"Hey Hector, good to see you again!" he said..."how are you and how was your trip up in Sweden?"
I had previously met Dies, for just one day during a quick day trip when I was living in Zaandam...
We put my bags in his copper colour 'VW Golf' and headed towards his beautiful home...

We talked a bit about my trip on the way and I told him I was expecting my funds to arrive any day soon and he said...

"No problem, you can stay with us as long as you need, we have a spare bedroom"...then he said, "we are both working but you can get around town walking or you can borrow my bike"... How cool, I thought...

Once again kindness with no strings attached... so uncommon and so valuable...and yet, we may not even truly appreciate it when it is right before our eyes...

Laura, his wife, was waiting for us at his house and welcomed me at the door, showed me to my bedroom and provided me with a clean towel...then she said, "Dinner will be ready soon, I hope you like Chinese food", she was cooking a new dish...and Dies said, "leave your stuff in your room and come out to the back yard and let's have a beer...do you like Heineken?"... I sure do...

Dies had been studying Spanish and wanted to practice...he really was improving...

We had a couple of beers and Laura called us in, she had prepared some Chinese noodles and they asked me, "Do you know how to use Chinese chopsticks to eat?"... Nope, I said... I had never learned or even tried to use them...

So they promptly handed me a pair of chopsticks and showed me how to place them in my hand and how to move them with my fingers to grab some of the noodles and how to transport that into my mouth...it takes some skill to do so, and at first it was quite awkward and the food kept falling off my sticks but after a few tries, I got the hang of it...

Who was to say... I learned how to use Chinese chopsticks for the first time from a Dutch couple in Roosendaal!!

I had a fantastic goodnight sleep that night...
Somehow I felt safe and at ease...like staying with family...

After 3 days in Roosendaal, I got news from Mexico!

I spoke with my Dad over the phone and he said my funds would be released on September the 8th, only a few days away, but that the amount wasn't what I expected, in reality, it was going to be about HALF of what I thought it would be!!

No way! I said... How's that possible!? I was a bit angry... and Dad said, "As soon as we get the funds we'll transfer them to your account"...
I said thanks to my Dad and sent regards to all back home...and started thinking...
-I'm going to have to cut my trip short...

I truly was annoyed but there was nothing I could do...but at last, I was going to get some money...I calculated it to be close to $500 USD...

That would buy me an 'InterRail Pass' (Unlimited trips within Europe) for 1 month and it would allow me to travel on a $10 USD a day budget...
So, I started planning my trip...

I spent a wonderful couple of weeks with the Tolhoeks, a bit bored but nonetheless it was a very peaceful couple of weeks...

I rode around the town a few times by bicycle travelling on their nicely organised cycle paths, while my hosts were at work...it is truly a beautiful small town...

I watched MTV a lot (it was quite popular back then), read my books and wrote a lot of letters...as usual...

We also travelled to Antwerp in Belgium, as it was so close...what a nice town!...

In reality, it was a very peaceful and uneventful time in Roosendaal and once my funds arrived I said goodbye to Dies and Laura and thanked them for their generosity and Dies said... "I'll be coming to Mexico soon so I'll see you there some time"...

Thank you guys, I said...Dies took me to the train station and, we said our goodbyes again...

On September the 17th I went up to Zaandam and left some of my stuff at Inge's place, she said I could do that so that I could travel lighter and then I could pick that up on my way back from touring Europe...

I also collected my mail and the letter from the Bank indicating that my funds were cleared and ready for me to withdraw from my ABN Dutch Bank account...

I was so excited, immediately after retrieving my money I went to buy my InterRail Pass, which cost at that time around $200 USD.

I was ready by September the 19th to embark on a journey that would take me through 8 Countries, making stops in 14 cities...(More on that on my next posts)
I was dying to hit the road again...

I had done a bit of washing in Roosendaal, so I had clean clothes, a Train Pass a bit of cash and my spirits were on a high again!

My 'Grand Europe Tour' was just ahead...and many new adventures were about to reveal themselves...
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Let's go travel all over Europe! (well nearly...)