When thrift and Europe collide

Warning: This post contains a (probably narcissistic) recount of my own exploits that could be offensive to some readers. Viewer discretion would be encouraged, except I obviously don't care that much because the content is here, ain't it? So continue at your own risk (and the risk of anyone else that might be affected if you have a slightly worse day, because lets face it, people are all connected at some level) of being hit by a literary cheese log.

So, I'm having a bit of reflection time after taking a three-hour nap today right now, and in case you were wondering, and you weren't, jet lag= very yes. But, everything good comes at some sort of cost. I mean, seriously, I'm so tired of hearing all that "the best things in life are free" bullcrap. Like, for instance, going to freakin' London for two days and Barcelona for four cost me about 1.2 kilobucks. But dag, yo, it was worth it.

First of all, did I mention it was only $1200, including air fare? It was, like a shade under seven Franklins to Gatwick, and then EasyJet is just ludicrously cheap, like $74 from London to Barcelona, which is almost worrying. Can that much money per person even cover the cost of fueling the plane? So getting to Europe isn't so bad, it's once you're there that the expenditures can get out of control. Luckily, both me and my little bro Nick (who sucked me into the whole Euro tour adventure) both carry the gene for thrift (if I had to guess, and I don't, thank God, I'd postulate it's on chromosome niner). It was pretty clutch of Nick to have a girlfriend who is studying abroad in Barcelona this semester, such that we could eat all of her food instead of buying it at restaurants. Turning continental breakfast into continental lunch by filling your pockets with ham and cheese also helps (that was more in London but whatev). And for the love of all that is good, don't take taxicabs.

Did I mention I love mass transit in Europe? I don't know why people would ever drive there, when it's like 20 Euros to fill the Nalgene-bottle sized gas tank in your Citroen or smart car, especially when the tubes and buses are so convenient. I mean, crap, in Barcelona, it was sunny with a high of 22 (aka 75 F) every day, so just walking somewhere, even for like an hour, was downright fun. Plus, this is what you get to see on the way:









The Spanish did pretty well for themselves when picking a place to live. Did I mention yet that Barcelona is the most beautiful city I've ever seen? It's only getting better, too. It's gonna be home to the coolest-looking cathedral *ever* built, Sagrada Familia, scheduled to be finished in 2021; this is the masterpiece of the genius architect Gaudi. If you don't know who he his, you should click here.

London wasn't bad either. The first night there, I broke a two-month fast from alcohol (I have my reasons but I'm not going to elaborate) with a John Smith's lager, which has revolutionized the way I view dark beer. Usually, I'm not so big of a fan of dark beer- I never recommend Guinness to anyone unless I think liquid yeast is their thing. But this John Smith's stuff was amazing. Same with Pedigree, which I had the next night, that was a lighter one that was just amazingly smooth. So, England, I laud you for your brewing. You just keep up the good work, ya hear?



And then some other stuff happened but I'll write about it later. Maybe. For now it's back to the grind (exasperated sigh).