Hola amigos!

Back in Berlin and missing the Tapas and Fois Gras Saint Sebastian and South France offered me in abundance.
Allow me to discuss in more detail the financial aspects of my trip.

While money isn't always the funniest topic, it's important to understand how much things cost, particularly for those of you interested in perhaps traveling through Europe. N'est pas? Verdad? Nicht wahr?
SO! From Berlin to Paris, a round trip ticket with EasyJet, one of the many European low cost airlines, ran me about € 110. Had I booked in advance, the tickets would have cost less. From Paris to the southern most tip of France, a ticket on the well known TGV (High speed train), cost roughly € 100 - that's after the student discount. If you're a student, remember to bring your Student ID with you, or have an International student ID made at your local STA office before your departure. While I obviously was housed for free in the countryside, I do know that the pricing for a hostel, or cheap B&B in southern France would have cost around € 10-15 a night. Factor in € 10- 15 for food a day and that's what your daily expenditures should roughly look like. I'm being relatively conservative with these numbers. For an optimistic take on travel costs, see below.*** Now, for those of you interested in getting out and about at night, I would suggest going to smaller pubs and bars as they are just as lively, much more intimate and far less expensive than those massive clubs a la cancun. Besides, "shakin it" with the locals is far more enjoyable than dancing and talking to someone who knows your friend's friend's hometown in Omaha... know what I mean? So, travel costs put us at about € 210 (round trip), room and board at roughly € 100 for four days, and nights on the town at about € 15-30 a night. I know some of you are thinking that 390€ sounds like a lot of money off hand and it is, but it's not expensive when you consider that a one way ticket to San Francisco from LA is $100. Besides, once those initial travel fees are incurred, expect to pay close to nothing for trains in and around the region. My train ride to Saint Sebastian from South France was about € 15 and my hostel was 40€ quid for two nights.

That's more or less it... Travel: Germany-France: €210 round trip - France-Spain: €30 round trip;
Room, Board & Night life: 4 nights S. France: €180 - 2 nights Spain: €90
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that's €510/ $645 for a full six days of adventure... not too shabby.

***Obviously there are even cheaper ways of doing things. Europe offers broke students a large array of bridges to choose from and sleep under for free. Cans of tuna run around .60cents and go nicely with some of the local drinking fountain water. Daily expenses in this case run around .60cents on the low end and 1.50€ for you big spenders.

Hope that's in some way helpful. I'll keep you posted on travel expenses as I experience them. If any of you know of cheaper modes of transport than RyanAir, Air Berlin, easyjet and the train systems - let me know!

Posted by Matthias at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Wow!

Time whizzes by when you're having a good time. It's hard to express the sensation I felt traveling home for the first time in a few years. Very little has changed and that's a good thing. Having lived in such places as New York and Los Angeles, I know how accustomed we are to rapid change. Within a year, new skyscrapers grace the NYC skyline and in Los Angeles, a new ten lane highway opens to eager and late commuters. Within a year in Les Landes, France, a country road is paved, a few houses are built and another marriage is celebrated. This year though, one of the local town personalities passed on into the after-life. While it was sad, the town came together to mourn and commemorate her life in a way that was communal and festive - unique to small towns where everyone knows everything about everyone at all times.

My parents offered me the trusty French deux-chevaux car to roam the French countryside with. My first destination was a part of the Pyrenees close to my home and near the Atlantic coast. Once there, we, Luigi and I, took a train from 1912 to the summit. The view was spectacular and you could see the Atlantic ocean from where we were. Fortunately the weather was ideal. We enjoyed the sun all the more from our Deux-che. "Her" roof can be rolled back. From the Pyrenees we puttered over to the beach at Saint Jean de Luz. I had no idea what to expect, but the city was far more Mediterranean than I could have imagined. The water was clean and clear and people looked tanner than your average mystic tanning salon hostess. We enjoyed an espresso to kick us back into adventurer mode and walked the streets for a few hours. The streets were lively and bustling - it was refreshing to see people remain involved in all things life, even during the week! Naturally our environment at home is different and varies from city to city... but wouldn't it be nice to have beaches and bustling cobbled stone streets just outside our offices??? Nod. Nod.
We couldn't spend the night in Saint Jean De Luz, as we planned to visit Saint Sebastian, Spain the next morning and so we set off back towards the farm before sun set.

The next morning my father dropped us off at the Dax train station and off we went to Irun, Spain. An hour later we caught our connecting train to Saint Sebastian - and literally 15 minutes later - we arrived to a slightly overcast, but nonetheless stunning Saint Sebastian. I have to take this moment to say...Saint Sebastian is probably one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. The old city is a maze of old small streets with bridges extending over them between houses. Look down one avenue and you'll see the old church with its impressive and detailed stone workings, look down the other and you'll see the ocean on the horizon and the masts of bobbing sailboats. It's amazing. The nightlife was also pretty incredible - although slow, since we visited out of season, but absolutely worth the trip and effort. I could go on and on, but the pictures will describe to you what I can't sum up in words without coming off as overly hokey, or cheesy, depending.

Long story short, (too late) last week's adventures will certainly remain in vivid memory - you can expect them to become even more romanticized over the next few years... yeah. Traveled home day before yesterday and am now back in Berlin and planning to visit Munich for its Oktoberfest. You'll see that footage in episode 4! Stay tuned.

Cheers!

Posted by Matthias at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)