the reason why we stayed in arenal is because it has really nice beaches. and in Palma there actually arent many beaches you can lounge by, which was a priority for us, we didnt know it was going to be Germany. even if we did, i dont think that would have really changed our minds.
so we arrived via ryan air (this is foreshadowing for later by the way) at night and took 2 busses from the airport to the hostel. a really nice argentinan man was on the night shift (and his accent made me miss argentina so much! argentinans just sound so much NICER, and friendlier) and so we check in and sleep.
oh i forgot to mention that on accident the day before, i bought a KILO of mushrooms...ya i told the lady i wanted HALF a kilo, but i wanted all 4 types of mushrooms that she had and she was like ill just give you .25 of each one, and i was like OKAY GREAT! and then like 10 euro later i realized i bought an entire kilo...and also, the stove was broken at home so anyway i ended up chopping up and baking the mushrooms in the oven with garlic, olive oil, white wine, dried basil and oregano and salt and pepper and its REALLY good and then i eat them on wassa crackers. yum. so anyway i had a kilo of mushrooms, and i was going to mallorca the next day, so i just packed them and some wassa crackers with me. oh also, the day before, i made an eggplant spread ( with 3 little eggplants) just baked the eggplants (cuz the stove was broken) and added olive oil and garlic and it was also delicious, so i just decided to pack all this food up and take it with me to mallorca to sustain me. i think its funny inthe airport they dont care if you come in with a kilo of mushrooms and 3 eggplants, but you cant bring on your own water...but WHATEVER. not complaining. i ate this for snacks the entire 4 days.
The next day, carolina and I woke up early and threw on our swimsuites and bought some groceries because there wasnt much in Arenal we wanted to eat since it was all frickendales and bratwursts there... so we bought smoked salmon, pumpkin seed bread, digestive cookies, and gazpacho, a melon and a mango and a cucumber. we had a picnic on the beach and then layed out for a bit. it was partly cloudy so we were inbetween sweaters and swimsuites for a couple hours. then we decided we wanted to rent a bike and go to palma! it was the most amazing bike ride ever! along the coast. which was like a swimming pool, each beach we got to was more stunning than the last. the water was so blue and clear, and the air smelled so sweet with all the blossoms from the fruit trees (mallorca is a serious citrus fruit provider) so orange and lemon blossoms were EVERYWHERE. also a lot of loquats and figs and olives. and almonds. basically, paradise for my mom. oh and there were SO MANY CYCLISTS, and there are so many mountains, dad it reminded me of you so much! jaato kheyli khaali kardam :) so we went to the center did some tourism, ate some gelato and then headed back. we stopped at a thai food restaurant and had some panang curry and pad thai. it was pretty good! i miss thai food so much. i cant beleive ive gone so long without having any...itll be one of the first things i do when i return to california. a thai food feast. i just salivated.
on the bike back, we were kind of cold, but after a while of riding, the breeze felt warm, and we could still see through the clear water even though it was night time! the air was sweet, and quiet, and peaceful, and it was one of the nicest most calming things ive done in a while. and my desire for hot summer nights swelled.
we returned, i probably ate some more mushrooms, and then we went to bed early because the next day we were going to take an antique train to the north side of the island to a city called Soller and then walk around to Biniaraix, and some other citrus producing villages. The train was very cute, and we went through some beautiful valleys, and lush mountains. we walked for about 7 hours i think that day...got lost in olive forest-farms. got lost on a mountain. and remembered what the simple life was like. these people were so isolated, and everything was so tranquil. so different than madrid. some parts really reminded me of parts of iran ive seen, up north by the caspian sea.
when we got back we decided to go out. we asked the guy at the front desk of our hostel places to recommend, most places were catering towards the german crowd. so lot of crazy euro techno and 24 hour drinking establishments...so, long story short, we somehow ended up making friends with the brazillian male strippers who were dancing at the show and they got us free drinks and vip pass for the rest of the night.
the next day all we did was sit on the beach and tan. and sleep and eat and tan and sleep and eat. it was really fun :) slept early that night because we had to go to the airport early the next day.
we arrived on schedule to the airport, checked in, went through security, went to a duty free shop, sampled lotions and perfumes, read the news paper and magazine headlines for the kate and william wedding, strolled to our gate, sat for a good hour waiting. then the boarding began. since we were in no rush, we waited utnil most people had gone through, when i arrived to the front the EVIL EVIL WOMAN ticket collector says "why dont you have a visa stamp for today? this says april 28th, today is may 2nd..."
(for ryan air, if you dont have a eu passport you need to just go to the ryan air visa stand and they just look at your passport and then stamp the ticket saying you have permission to travel, its pretty fucking pointless) I have traveled ryan air before, am 99% sure i have never had to get 2 visa stamps...mostly because when you GET A VISA, THEY JUST STAMP IT ONCE SAYING YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO BE IN WHATEVER COUNTRY FOR WHATEVER DURATION OF TIME...AND on my way TO mallroca i had printed out my going and return tickets...and the people in madrid stamped my going ticket twice, once on the top, which is the part they keep, and once onthe bottom which is the part i keep. and it even says, to keep the ticket with the stamp on it, AND I HAD.) sothe lady says "you have to exit the airport, go back to the beginning, get a visa stamp, go through security, and come back to the gate otherwise you cant fly" (which ws D 90 OFCOURSE super far) AND THEN she kindly adds " i dont think youll make it"
and i was like " but no one said anything to me this entire time when i was going thruogh security and had to show my ticket and passport to like 500 different people on the way, and i have 2 stamps and, and i kept my ticket for going and returning, and this has never happened before"...she didnt care. carolina had gone in before me so shes standing on the other side of them horrified that i wont make it back to madrid...we ask if i can leave my bag with carolina while i sprinted to get the ticket, the lady sighed, thought for a moment looked at me, looked at the bag, and decided to say "no". i wanted to kick her in the head. so i take off, i sprinted through the airport, i exited, i re entered i found the visa booth, luckily, no line, the AÑDLFKJAÑDFLSKJ lady is taking her time, and then she asks why my ticket is ripped a little at the bottom, and it was because on my way coming the ticket lady accidentally ripped it a little, and i was like "i dont know, the ticket lady ripped it on my way over to mallorca" and she was like "well...they probably wont accept it because its ripped" an di´m like WHAT THE HELL KIND OF A POLICY IS THIS?? YOU MAKE US PRINT OUR OWN GOD DAMN BOARDING PASSES ON NORMAL PRINTING PAPER AND KEEP IT ALL THROUGHOUT THE JOURNEY, AND THEN YOU HAVE THESE RIDICULOUS RULES AND HOOPS WE HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH TO ACTUALLY FLY WITH YOU. so she really useleslly puts some scotch tape on it and then adds "theyre about to board i dont htink youll make it"
thank you for your useless 2 cents, b****! and i was off. ran through security, cutting infront of people, and threw my things through the xray machines, the security people were cheering me on " go go! get your flight!" i ran by the duty free shops, and the new paper stand, by all the gates, and i made it do d90 right as the last 2 people were boarding. i ran up to them screaming hola hola! and when i arrived, the 2 RUDE ladies continued talking about god knows what for 30 WHOLE SECONDS...and finally they acknowledge my existence, one looks at me, and looks back at her friend (the evil one) and says, "can she go on?" and the firend goes " if she has a stamp" and i wanted to slap her face and say WEHRE DO YOU THINK IVE BEEN FOR THE PAST 10 MINUTES YOU RAGING ASSHOLE?? and i DID have the stamp, and the stupid lady was pretending like she was actually reading it to make sure it was real, and they finally let me on the plane... i felt nauseous after having such an adrenaline rush and runing with a gigantic back pack on my back around a huge airport, and i was planning on puking on the evil lady if she was on the plane because ryan air is SO CHEAP that they dont even have pockets in the chairs with magazines or puke bags. so, i dont know what they expect people to do if they get sick...but LUCKILY FOR HER she wasnt on the flight, also my nausea subsided.
made it back to madrid, had a relaxing evening, and here we are half way through the work week again and life is back to normal...at least until june.
now, here are some photos to illustrate the weekend:
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