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The Estonian Philosopher.

Hello U75 people :)

Bit of a tough day. I've forked out for posh hotel again because I can't find any other option. I've been offered a place in a reasonable squat, but it's full of people with habits they can't afford to feed.

I'm getting good work. Making good money. Two commissions to do tomorrow. I can afford hotels, but I'd sooner save the cash.

Just had a big argument with the people at Quick Burger. Everything stone cold and about €2 more than 'as advertised'. I feel shit about giving people on minimum wage a hard time, but I don't take it. Got my money back and left threatening to write to head office.

All is good here in most ways. I just don't have any friends :( This is the biggest price you pay. Living a very transient lifestyle means all around you is very transient also. I don't do the lingo. I have met good people, but... when you just need a chat and there is no-one to chat to... that is when it is really hard.

I'm in a posh hotel. I have telly, internet and all that. I have plenty of cash - I could go out on a bar crawl, but I don't have any companionship. Some nights just come very low. Difficult to explain. Human companionship is invaluable. I like being 'lost' and 'lonely' much of the time. Happy in my own company. However, the need for friendship and conversation comes from nowhere at thye most unexpected times.

I'm gonna have a spliff and can of strong beer :)

Pau is actually a fabulous little city. I may get stuck here and make friends
 
Sometimes very, very speciaql things happen.

haven't been making cash and I am back in thwe posh hotel and close to skint.

I did a commission this morning for a wine shop. Got paid in wine. Day over :D

I then got handed a very genorous lump of hash :D

I am totally fucking wasted. I left my sketches out unattended for an hour whilst I 'mellowed', and came back to fin d this :)

I carry a bag full of handwritten letters and notes. They are proper arhives. Worth more than money can ever buy :)

Happy man :)
 

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Huge storm. Game over for the day. Good money day. Posh hotel paid for for a final night. €150 in pocket. Guaranteed collect of €110 tomorrow, possibly plus another €100, then I head to Toulouse and find a cheap room for a week. Pau has been excellent, but the €50/night bed is just too much. I have to make a base for a week and auction a painting.

Today was Festival od the Handicapped. No signs of PC madness here, or crisis!

Evening off :)
 
Well, this is a nice life :) Getting by with my 3 loves of Photography, Art and Writing. Travelling to boot!

I'm in the posh hotel with pizza, red wine and hash :) A very nice evening strolling around and exploring. This is a fabulous little city. I think I have to concede that the views to the Pyrenese beats Granada views to Sierra Nevada on some counts. It is a stunningly beautiful little city. Perhaps the most beautiful city I have ever visited. However, something doesn't quite sit comfortably with me. It's a very contrived beauty. Austere even. There's a menace in the background that won't quite let me relax.

How to explain this? I'll compare with Granada - a very relaxed place. Pau is relaxed also, but there is something threatening about the place. I don't know what. I'll compare with Alexander Palace. Fabulous views across London, but with a symbolic edifice of imperialistic rule sitting uncomfortably behind your back. That is Pau. It's competing with the riches of Southern France. Awesome buildings. Motorsport in the city. Huge, very splendid casino. It's affordable. I'm paying €50 for a room, but if Two shared it's very reasonable. Beatiful place. Just a little too much focus on money and falseness for my liking.

I have enjoyed it mind. The people are NOT money focussed. Very friendly. Very likeable. Apparently the English introduced golf to Europe here. You do actually get respect for being English here. Unusual these days.

It is the most beautiful little city I have ever visted. Not the best city, but a good one. Well worth a weekend.
 

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And, Granada win again :) Exciting times!

I'm back in the posh hotel for the last night. Mehbe :D

I have a very nice commission to do tomorrow. No profit in it. It will barely cover costs, but I like it.

Amongst the most generous and interesting gifts today....

Another big lump of hash and a pot of Michel's Gran's homemade pate. "You eat it with bread" she informed. Yeh, I know, bread and ketchup :) Rich as fuck! Delicious, but indegestion inducing poison without ketchup :(

Toulouse tomorrow :)
 
Onto Toulouse.

My feet have recovered and there is a beautiful hiking route from here. But, but, but... I have enough cash to pay for a cheap room in Toulouse for a week and to cover train fare. Bit of a cheat. I just want to get painting number 1 up on the interenet auction site. So, cheating train ride to Toulouse. Plan to stay a week at least before heading towards Switzerland. I've been given loads of good info' about towns enroute.

I am doing exceptionally fucking well given I can't do the lingo properly. France has been very, very friendly so far. People love what I'm doing and they love what I'm trying to do. I'm well informed that Toulouse won't let me down :)

Accommodation wise, that was a very expensive week. €300+. I don't plan to do that to often.

I am looking forward to Toulouse. I met a couple in Granada a year ago, or so. They came from Toulouse and told me all about the life history of Toulouse Lautrec. Apparently he used to pay his way doing pretty much exactly what I am doing - big sketches on cheap craft paper in the streets. I love the idea of retracing such a life. I knew nothing about him previously other than the Moulin Rouge stuff.

2PM TGV to the BIG city!
 
Toulouse - I hate you already. Seriously. If it wasn't for the fact I've had to pay €80 for a fucking bed I would be out on the streets putting bricks through windows.

I hate it that much. It is con city. It's got fuck all going for it really. It's shit. That said, I can make money here, but I'm getting out as soon as I can.

You go to a hotel with a price of €48 for a room for the night. Fuck expensive. Then when you get to re3ception they tell you they don't have any €48 rooms left. they only have €78 rooms. Right! Fucking con city.

It just isn't worth the visit. I'm out of here tomorrow.
 
ooh i'm glad i read this thread - i went to bled when i was little and it was beautiful :) cheers for the reminder, kabbes - next time i go away (if ever), it's on me list..
 
This is my thread now, Stan. I'm posting the only stuff that the People want to actually read.

tufty, you have to visit the Logar Valley. It's seriously beautiful. But don't do what we did and mistake a hardcore climb to the top of a mountain for a 45 minute round-trip stroll just because the sign says "45 minutes". After almost an hour of climbing up waterfalls and crossing ravines via a few logs stuck in the ground, we reached the summit, where the only other people had on hardcore climbing gear. Then we realised that we had to go down the same way. Panic ensued.

It's alright, though, I didn't die.
 
Incidentally, that's my first ever post using a Blackberry as a Bluetooth device to connect to the internet and a netbook for the actual posting. Exciting stuff. It is making the endless commute more entertaining already.
 
Stan, I think I've met you! That pic of you taking a pic of you reminds me of an artist I saw in Santiago de Compostela a good while back. I would guess it was about the time you were there from what you have said in the past. I liked your stuff too.

Hope the Trek is going well, I'm plotting my trip back to the UK. But looking forward to the return to Iberia. I want to try some of these towns you are referring to.

Mrs D says Hi and make sure you look after yourself. She worries....
 
Kabbes - go away now :)

New day, new attitude. I am going to try the Couch Surfing approach. Met a couple of very lovelly Greek girls last night in a very friendly bar. I may try asking around there this evening. I am spending way too much on beds.

My right foot is fucked :( I have to stay here and make some money. If police are cool I will make plenty :)

Time to give Toulouse another chance.
 
dessiato said:
Stan, I think I've met you!...
Mrs D says Hi and make sure you look after yourself. She worries....
Click to expand...

I look after myself. Almost certainly me you met. The only other artists working the streets in Santiago are very different to me. My good friend Jose from Barcelona and a guy selling prints from a stall. Jose is cool as if you ever meet him. Bit of a drinker and a little crazy at times, but perfectly harmless.

Happy travels. Pau is well worth a visit.
 
FFS! :mad:

€80 for a poxy bed and there is no water in the taps. No shower. No sink. No bog flush. I should get a refund surely?

Hmmmmm....

Perhaps the first train out here?
 
Fuck I am well angry.

I am going to argue the fuck to the point they call the police, or give me a refund. Not a good way to start the day. No fucking water for €80/night!!!
 
Fucking disgusting. I am sitting in protest in the lobby. Initially they lied. They said the water had been cut off in the street. So, I asked next door. Nope. It is just the hotel - they cut the water off.

So far I've been offered a €30 refund. Not enough. I want the full €80 back.
 
Stanley Edwards said:
Fucking disgusting. I am sitting in protest in the lobby. Initially they lied. They said the water had been cut off in the street. So, I asked next door. Nope. It is just the hotel - they cut the water off.

So far I've been offered a €30 refund. Not enough. I want the full €80 back.
Click to expand...

Good luck, you should get a refund. You shouldn't have to pay for services you don't get, perhaps you should pay a token amount for the room, say 10€, but no more. You'd have been better off on a camp-site.
 
kabbes said:
This is my thread now, Stan. I'm posting the only stuff that the People want to actually read.

....
Click to expand...

We like reading of his adventures, they are also making us want to visit places as we go on a similar route from the UK back to Iberia.
 
I reluctantly 'setteld' for a 50% refund after a 1 hour stand-off between me and the plumber and some stupid pretend calls to 'head office'.

I did have the best fast food experience of my life mind. Blood sausage, mash and carrots washed down with a small bottle of local red for just €6. These places have to make it to the UK.

http://www.flunch.fr/

Overwhelmed with choice (a little confusing to Johnny foriegner also), but fabulous food at very good prices. It's like an open buffet with grill and other stuff. Very popular. How the French tell Ronald McDonald to fuck right off. It is no myth about France and food. No myth about the women either. Which reminds me - I am so missing someone :(

I'm in a Morrocan place with coffee and WiFi. Going to try posting a few requests on Couch Surfing. Cheapest bed I can find is €37!
 
OK. €40 for bed tonight. No joy from Couchsurfing.

I am very tired. Free WiFi here comes only if you give up your MAC address and sign a disclaimer! New French law apparently. Too tired to argue.

Still not really getting into Toulouse. Easy money here. Easy come - easy go. I am missing people and feeling a bit homesick. Just the tiredness. Going to have big fat spliff and beer. I'll attack Toulouse properly tomorrow. Pretty confident it's good for €300/day anyday.
 
Did you never go to the Flunch is Vigo? Often, when we are shopping over there we will eat in one because the food is good and cheap. We usually spend about 17-20€ for the two of us. But we tend to be extravagant when eating there. The first time was because we were starving and couldn't be bothered to try looking for somewhere, and when we realised people were waiting for the next batch of paella to be served we thought it would be worth a chance. It was.

I suppose a 50% refund is almost reasonable.

Mrs D said 'Good travels, Stan'. I'm beginning to wonder about her fondness for you...I feel a divorce coming on. Think of my tax position! ;)
 
I just don't get Toulouse. Not sure why people visit here. Perhaps I have missed something?

Onwards! Staying out and getting the first train/bus to Montpellier. Bound to be even more expensive than Toulouse, but I need a fresh approach and a new scene. Problems are mounting. Wonkey foot. Expensive beds. Market on my pitch today. How do I get cash into a Spanish bank account in Spain. I need to do washing. Don't want to carry painting around with all my other crap.

Time to simplify.
 
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