Travelingbug.org

Fiesta in Granada, Spain - Video of the week

 

The video of the week comes from Granada, Spain.  I have to admit that it is my 2nd favorite city in Spain behind Barcelona.  When I arrived I could feel that the city had a magical touch to it.  I was there towards the end of May on my world trip.  Right next to Alhambra (main attraction in Granada) there was  a side street with this little church where hundreds of people were inside for mass.  Everybody was dressed up in really nice traditional suits and dresses.  I am not sure what the festival was called, but I know it has something to do wih the Catholic church. 

                   

Right after the service finished everybody piled out of the church.  Then these two guys hooked two huge bulls up to a cart that was carrying a heavy metal statue.  Then the bulls were lead down the street, and everybody started following them playing music and singing.  I had never seen anything like it in my life!  The cool thing about Spain is that there are so many festivals during the summer.  For more information on all the festivals throughout the year in Spain check out Spanish Tourism.

 

 

Argentina - value of the peso

  

 Everyday all day all you hear about in the news is information about the "Credit Crunch" that is affecting every country around the world.  One affect of the "Credit Crunch" has is the changing of the value of each countries currency.  Right now the US Dollar is gaining strength against almost every major currency except the Japenese Yen.  While traveling around the world it is important to know how much your home currerncy is trading against every country you are/will be traveling through. 

Check out the Currency Converter in order to know exactly how much the value is of your home currency.  Right now $1 US Dollar is trading for 3.28 Argentine pesos.  I will be traveling through Argentina in December, and one main factor in choosing this destination is how far my money will go once I get there.  I can remember eating at a restaurant in San Telmo called Des Nivel.  A friend and me had a bottle of wine, salad, bread, and two unbelievable steaks for about 43 pesos or about $14 US Dollars.  You can't get that meal in the States for less then $50.  This is just one of many stories about how cheap it is in Argentina.

While I was traveling the world I figured that for one week of traveling through England, Europe, or Australia, was equal to about 1 month of traveling through Argentina!  That is a huge benefit for not having to save huge amounts of money to travel through South America compared to other destinations.

Montserrat, Spain - Video of the week

Two summers ago I met two girls while vacationing in Barcelona, Spain.  One of them, Leidy, is from Holland and the other one, Mina, is from Igualada, Spain.  When I returned to Barcelona last summer these two girls were still living around the Barcelona area.  One weekend they offered to take me to Mina's home town, Igualada.  This town is about 25 minutes outside Barcelona by car.  It is located in the Catalunya region of Spain.  While I was in Igualada for the weekend nobody spoke English.  In fact, nobody in this small town even talked Spainish.  Everybody in this town talked Catalan.  It is a mix of Spanish and French.  I could not understand anything anybody was saying the whole weekend, but I still had a great great time meeting all of Mina's friends and family.

One thing that we did while we were in Igualada was take a day trip to Monserrat.  I had never even  heard of Montserrat. So I was excited to to hear that Mina was going to take me to one of the most famous  sites in Catalunya.  It is located about 20 minutes away from Igualada (you can also take a day trip from Barcelona to Monserrat).  We woke up at about 8 am on Saturday morning, and the first thing that we did was make lunch to eat on top of Montserrat.  Mina, Leidy, and me then met up with 3 other of Mina's friends.   

How to get to the top of the Rock of Gibraltar

The Rock of Gibraltar is one of the coolest sites in Southern Spain.  I was staying in Tarifa, Spain when I decided that I wanted to take a day trip to "The Rock."  There is only one bus stop in Tarifa.  There is a bus that comes by each hour that took me to the main bus station in Algeciras.  Once I got to the main terminal in Algeciras, I switched buses to get to Gibraltar.  The bus that leaves Algiers took me directly to the bus stop that is right "next" to the Rock. 

In order to get to the Rock I had to go through English customs.  The Rock is actually English property.  (So make sure that you have your passport when you are visiting the Rock.)  It is kind of crazy when I had been experiencing Spanish culture while traveling through Andalusia, and then I crossed a line it was basically like being in England.  Everything from street signs, menus for food, employees of businesses all spoke English.  I was told by other travelers that you had to have the British Pound as currency for everything in Gibraltar, but most businesses do accept the Euro.  I didn't convert any money since I was only staying for the day.

From the boarder of Spain to the bottom of the mountain it took me about a 20 minutes walk.  Once arrived at the base of the mountain I had to make a decision.  How am I going to get to the top of The Rock?  It definitely looked like it would be a good hike to the top of the mountain.  I had not met anybody that had walked to the top before I got there.  I was estimating that it would take about 45 - 60 minutes to make it up, and the same amount of time to get back down.

Hanging out in the Plaza de San Martin - Cordoba, Argentina

This video of the week is from the Plaza de San Martin in Cordoba, Argentina.  I had just taken a 20 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires.  It rained the whole first day I was there.  I checked into my hostel, and I couldn't sit inside since I was on the bus for so long.  Cordoba is a pretty tight city.  Make sure to check it out while you're traveling through Argentina.   

Cairns to New York City 15,376 Kms

This sign is in the middle of Cairns, Austrailia.  It sums up how far Australia is from the States.  15,376 kilometers equals 9,548 miles to get to New York.