

Oh jee..The Big Freeze..fucking hate it. Get over it. I did.
Don't get me wrong - I love the snow, I'm used to it.
I'd rather have -15 and -20 with crunchy snow than something in between that's not cold nor warm and is rather wet than dry..AS LONG AS IT'S WARM INSIDE! Which wasn't the case in my situation. The place is just a big freezer with nice decorations.
But anyway..my friend went back home for the holiday..on New Year's Eve and I had two options:
1. to stay in England and get a brain damage (loneliness, cold, empty house, too many thoughts on my own, lack of wine etc)
2. to do the first thing that comes into my head..which I did. Fortunately
I had a glass of wine and checked my bank account..hmm..60 pounds. OK.. at least it's something
Next step. The cheapest airline..Bmibaby. OK. and the cheapest destination..Malaga in Spain.
Why not!
I booked my flight (something 53 pounds), set myself comfortably in the armchair. Closed my eyes and imagined myself walking by the coast and enjoying the Sun.
After a while I started to think about the reality - accommodation, food, transport , weather etc. Short conclusion - I needed more money! That's when a loving and caring brother came really handy ;)
The morning of departure. 6 o'clock in the morning, crunchy snow, -14 degrees. Bright moon.
Waiting for my lift to the airport.
Landed in Malaga at lunchtime. And I knew that I'll have some rainy days in Spain and it wouldn't be the warmest time to visit it but I was still excited (never been in Spain before) and it was WARM!!
I headed for the city center to buy a map. Then I looked for some cigarettes and found a nice place in the park where I could concentrate on my map and develop a plan. To be honest I didn't even know where I was situating on the map so I started to ask people to point out my location (always reminding myself Nomadic Matt's suggestion - communicate with locals!).
Finally I ended up with a jobless guy originally from Morocco who was just killing his time in the park and he offered himself to show me around. Deal! Though he was a bit weird..ah, what the heck..
Found the Western Union I needed and then had few drinks in a typical Spanish bar..Thank God you can smoke inside!
After sharing our life stories he helped me to find my hostel and we agreed to meet the next day at four in the same place.
"The Melting Pot" was my home for these next days. And I can ensure that it was my best hostel experience ever! Not because of the building or the service or whatever you could expect but because of the people, because of the atmosphere ( or maybe it was because it was my first hostel experience..that kind of..). Soon one of my room mates renamed the place - "The Home of Broken Hearts" . After listening to every one's stories it was fare enough (a divorcing bloke from Belgium, runaway from UK, cheated one from Italy and so on..).
For making my little trip unforgettable many thanks to: Emma (what a character!), Brian (hmm jee, would've liked to get to know him a bit more ;) Adrian (can you really smile so much and be positive all the time??!!), Marcus (The Big Man who still owns me his story), Gabriele (Chico - I cross my fingers for him so he could find a way to keep him on the road), Ramon (The Snoring Brazilian guy who presented me in a bar as his pregnant wife who strongly needed toilet, sorry about my beyond control behaviour) and of course The Dancing Koreans! Tomaš (The Free Soul from Czech) and Miloud (thank you for showing me around and thanks for the beer!)
Incredible staff: Ludo (The Shot Master), Sami (The Hugging Singer), George!!!!!!!! (The Master Chef!), Eduardo (who had to stay up all night to hammer out some tension caused by an innocent pillow) and The Breakfast Lady ( never asked her name..)
First night - I passed out at ten.
Second day
Opened my eyes and examined the room - six bunk beds.a girl.and few fellows. Quick shower, breakfast (lucky me that breakfast was included because my food supplies consisted a pack of mature cheese, bread rolls and a pack of digestive biscuits ).
Short introduction with everyone, got some friendly advise etc and headed for the coast.
Had an amazing walk by the coast for ..aahm..three or four hours maybe..
Lunch and to the down town.
I love these narrow streets. After a while I was standing in the front of the Cathedral. A big one. Stepped in the garden to take some pictures and then I met my local guide NR 2 - Tomaš from Czech Republic. A street performer and a squatter with a dog. Well, despite the fact that he was mostly high and we couldn't understand each other perfectly it was an interesting day.
We went to the Alcazaba (The Alcazaba is a Moorish fortification in Málaga, southern Spain. Created from the 8th century, much of it was built around the middle of the 11th century for King Badis of Granada, to serve as the palace of the governors of the city. It is the best-preserved alcazaba (from the Arabic al-qasbah, قصبة, meaning "citadel") in Spain. Next to the entrance to the Alcazaba are the ruins of a Roman theatre dating to the 2nd century which is undergoing restoration. Some of the Roman materials were used in the construction of the Alcazaba).
I foot the bill and his task was to do the guiding stuff. So, after sneaking in with a dog (not allowed), being breathless by the view from up there , we sat on the wall ( it always seemed to be the smoke o'clock) and just enjoyed and chat.
Later on walked up to the Gibralfaro Castle, viewing platforms, footpaths and to his residence (literally). Huge abandoned house basically in the city center! For free! He's sharing the house with eight other squatters.. And they all seemed to have dogs..
He had to go to do his business on the streets and for me it was time for a quick snack and a shower. My legs were already killing me but I did not care. He said he'll be waiting nine o'clock. I didn't promise anything.
Oh jee..didn't go to meet my local guide NR 1..well. I went but changed my mind and left just before four. I like strange people..but I couldn't figure out - was he too strange or wasn't he strange enough..
Met Tomaš again in the evening. I followed the sweet melody of his flute and found him. He was freezing. Went to his friends place ( I told you - I'm imprudent and careless..and always in trouble).
Briefly - me in a flat with three strangers who were constantly smoking joint. Tea. Lots of cigarettes and a movie ("Number Nine"). Wasn't convinced that they understood..Nice people though..
Back to the hostel. Gathered in the common room ( with a bar :) ), spent the evening drinking Sangria with a lovely lady from US and a girl from UK (for her the keyword was the laughter.fantastic girl). Met some amazing people. Brian, Emma, Ludo, Adrian..can't remember any more names ( guess I'm not a spring chicken anymore-memory is starting to fail me)..
Day three
I was wandering around the city with a Brazilian guy from the hostel. He had a special relationship with the city. Apparently his ancestors were in the orphanage house there and then moved to Brazil. So it was a really educating sightseeing trip that day. Went to see the house, another cathedral, looked up Picasso's birthplace and so on. And again - climbed up to the Gibralfaro!
Back in the hostel I discovered a new face from our room - chico Gabriele from Italy! A guy who will never forgive me that I dared to mention that he speaks like Borat...Cos we were planning to go out with others the first thing I did (instead of introducing myself) I asked him to join us.
12.00 am. Our barman Ludo (the master of shots!) takes us out to Shamrock. Never been in a place like this. Highly recommend if you are looking for something local, cheap and fun (best place for shots..list on the wall showed over a hundred different shots to choose from..one shot - one Euro.Not bad). The place was packed and visibility subzero ( smoking indoors allowed).
Then we head for the club. Entrance was ten euros..but we had The magic man Ludo - got in for free). It was a typical "meat market" -gorgeous Spanish women in their fancy dresses lined up for a lucky pick..No one (except us) seemed to dance..and I mean DANCE not just slightly moving your feet from one side to the other.
Anyway..it wasn't my cup of tea but while some of us went back to Shamrock I decided to stay for a while (love dancing!) with two Korean lads from the hostel. After half an hour I was desperate to go back and find the others (Brian, Gabriele aka Chico and Ludo).
Left the club. Bewildered standing on the door..of course I didn't bring my classes and at that time I couldn't remember the name of the place..So I just started to ask other bouncers..I managed to find a door that had a familiar word above it and when I stepped in, it looked exactly the same only smaller. Back out and I tried to explain the bouncers that I'm looking for a place that looks the same but is bigger..They did not speak English..oh, we had some fun. Eventually they just started to name the places and after seven names I got the right one..and surprise, surprise - it was just around the corner..
I found others. Back in the hostel five in the morning....And had to get up early to go to the market with Brian, Adrian and Emma. Forlorn hope? :)
Day four
"Must remain horizontal, must remain horizontal.." that was my only thought..
I managed to pull myself together..acknowledged the fact that the room was full of Germans.
Breakfast. While waiting for others I met The Big Man. Marcus was from Belgium. Originally from US. Knew more about my country than I did..Interesting person. "Have to come back to this project..) I thought.
So we spent the day in a rainy market. I really wanted to see it because I like contrast and it was a good chance to see the contrast between the down town (where money is literally walking on the main street) and the local market. It was worth it. I didn't buy anything but it was a nice dose of local culture..
My feet were killing me..
We were soaking wet, had a cup of tea and went to the Picasso Museum. Absolutely loved it.
It started to get dark and we wanted to go to the Alcazaba ..again..because it was for free that day..human nature :) Anyway.we got locked in there! But I have to say that it was far more interesting like this. At some point a man came with a torch and he led us out through high tech tunnels and elevators etc (in an old fortress!!??). FANTASTIC
Back in the hostel nice evening with a guitar music (Brian) and dear Sami - the only song writer in the family - shared his talent.
My attempt to fall asleep was accompanied by the snoring Brazilian. For goodness sake, I was so close to strangle him!
Day five
Beach! Beach! Beach!
Well it was only warm enough to stick our toes in the cold water but we were all happy and satisfied. THE SUN, Brian, Adrian, The Big Man and Chico.
After the sun therapy we went for a Spanish meal. I didn't have anything because I didn't have any money left what so ever and I didn't want them to buy me one.. so though I was already quite week after four days of hostel breakfast and that fucking cheese (which became even hard to look at :) )!!!
The Big Man went back to the hostel ( he wasn't well at all), Adrian and Brian went to the Cathedral and I was waiting for them outside with Chico. It was the first time I started to get to know him more ( can't count the bar trip).
We were killing time by juggling with oranges. We were awesome!!! HAAHHHAAHAA. Ok, OK. pathetic - but at least we had fun!
After two hours we understood that we had missed Brian and Adrian at some point..
So we went to the Piccasso's birthplace..it was supposed to be for free as well that day. But somehow it wasn't. Chico bought me a ticket and we went anyway. Pictures, Pictures..and a movie!! AAJEE!! I think we watched it like..six..times..don't judge us - it was warm in there and our feet were killing us and it was funny..We really got into it :)
When we were just about to go out again we found out that there's a hole second floor as well to explore.
So ..me and Chico..two strangers with high expectations and serious faces paced up to the first floor, entered the first room and when we SAW the first piece of ART by PICASSO..we just looked at each other and burst out laughing and we couldn't stop anymore..Jesus fucking Christ..
After pulling ourselves together we managed to flip through everything and decided that he deserves his name ;)
And once again - up to the Gibralfaro Castle!!!
It was already dark and the view was ..well..I just can't describe it.
We sat there with our cigarettes and all of a sudden everything became so clear. Like sometimes you just have to talk things through to make them clear..
And that was the night I actually understood that I wasn't in a hurry - screw all these degrees, businesses and careers that every one seems to be in such a hurry to achieve! The money, the things and all this bullshit their after..and I was after..it's all just an illusion. God damn illusion!
I realised it after Chico said : " I' m on time. This is my time." And he was so right! At that moment I had something that money couldn't buy - I was happy and I felt so free! I was proud and pleased and..just happy. I'm not in a hurry anymore. This is my time..
In my mind I thank him ever so much for that evening.
Had to go back to the hostel because Brian and Adrian were supposed to leave and I wished to see them before they were going to take off.
Lucky for me they were still there, I gave Brian a big hug (don't know why, I just felt like it) and he said that they're leaving in an hour.
Quick shower ( walking around all day in the same clothes and shoes makes me feel really, really disgusting ) and when I came back down I heard that they are staying for another night. So our last night there...
Wine, guitar and a good company..what more can you ask from life?!! :)
Briefly- at some point, some how we ended up cuddled in my bed..and..it started again..the bloody Brazilian!!! I swear - the windows were rattling!!
I took my pillow and sent it towards him..big mistake.. my companion was removed from my room. But..it was silent and I could sleep again!!! Hallelujah - I passed out in five minutes...
Day six
Had to woke up early because I had to fly back to England. AARGGHH!! I was so close to call my boss and announce him that my plane crushed and I'm dead and I can't make it back..
I packed my stuff, kissed Chico goodbye and went downstairs.
Emma and The Big Man looked like shit! And then I heard all about the drama that was going on while I was blissfully sleeping upstairs:
The snoring Brazilian woke up after the contact with my pillow and made a complaint. And there had been an all night lasting arguing. The Snoring lad was accusing Brian that he tried to kill him with a pillow!!! Give me a break!
So I looked him up, he was just about to leave and I apologised to him from the bottom of my heart, explaining that it was me who threw the pillow and I did it only because I wanted some silence in the room!!! I never meant to hurt him :)
Well anyway, my behaviour was claimed to be the thing called violence.. and one day it all comes back to me..what goes around that comes around..
So - from that trip I learned that I'm on time and one day I will get killed by a falling pillow from the sky..or something like that..
Said goodbye to to The Big Man, Emma, Adrian and Brian. I was sad but I knew that it was the right step towards becoming a better person, becoming to understand myself. This trip proved me once again that this is my thing, my dream, this is me..a vagabond.
By the time I got on the plane I was exhausted and baffled. I was aware that I'm going on the road again, I have to. But we had a plan. Me and my friend - we were supposed to go together..in August.
I was baffled because I knew that I have to confront her and tell her that I'm going on my own..