The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate!

Saturday evening everything went even better than i planned or hoped.
After the blog post i went for a walk around the city to find a hairdresser place. And i found it quite easily. And this time the hairdresser spoke English.
The last time i had a haircut was in Saint-Tropez and there the hairdresser didn't speak English. Can you imagine the feeling i had back then when i couldn't explain in words how i want my haircut. But it went fine and this time even better.
Anyways after my haircut i had some free time before the evening birthday party. So i had a good pizza and then the hour and a half of free time that i spent on searching a liqueur shop. Unfortunately i didn't find it and i just payed more in the supermarket for a bottle of Jagermeister.

Then i went back to the guys flat and helped to clean out a bit before the girls would come.
Then we started with the beers and some occasional Jager shots around 9 pm. Then around 10 pm i picked up the two girls from a main square and headed back to the flat with them. There we just drank, chatted and listened music until midnight. Then it was officially my birthday and it was time to lift me up with a chair. Unfortunately for me, the guys were so lazy at the moment that they figured that just two lifts is enough. And also by that time our beers and a bottle Jagermeister (I think i drank most of the bottle) had been finished and it was time to go out.
Then the guys went for their friends gig and i was left with the girls.
We were lucky to find a cheap bar in the very center. There we had many more beers, Jager and tequila shots. And then we were in the real party mood already.
So we found something between a bar and a club. There the place was full and there was no entry ticket. So we danced a almost until the closing hour over there. But there i only had one small beer because the prises were very high again.
Then i said goodbye to the girls and headed back to the flat.
Unfortunately we all forgot to take photos from that night.

While i was in a club something amazing had happened in the flat. Two British girls had just ringed the doorbell to come up and to check out the flat. All though by that time i was pretty tired already and wanted to go to bed.
Wow, that's a lot of writing for one evening.

So now its time for Sunday. I woke up at noon and decided to keep on celebrating. So i had two beers and said goodbye to the guys from the States.

Then i headed to my home bar where they were very nice with me on that special day. They either gave me free or discounted drinks. 

That's me with my home bar owner to who i have a lot of respect. He ran 100 km in one day.

And then over there i met many awesome people. I sat in one table having my beer and listened few other travelers stories with a little smile on my face. A bit later they invited me to their table and wanted to hear my stories. The best part was that the girl who had the most stories and talked the most, had her jaw dropped pretty for the rest of the time i was with them.
Then the two British girls who were in the flat in the previous night gave me a call. The reason for that was that they had seen photos on my facebook. Like i told i was pretty tired by the time i got back to the flat and i didnt even bothered to convince them that i was really walking across Europe.
Then they joined us in the bar as well.

This is the whole group with who i was. 

And the two British girls who joined with us to listen my stories and to have a birthday drink with me.

Then somehow i slowly transformed the talk about my trip into a motivational speech about living your life and following your dreams. It turned out to be so good that in the end they said that i should be a motivational speaker in the future. Which actually is my last job on my career plan in the future.

And this girl (the one who had her jaw dropped most of the time) gave me a very nice feedback as well.

"Yesterday we accidentally met a guy who travels through Europe on foot. We were extremely surprised when it turned out that he already wanders ten months. In addition, we celebrated with him his twentieth birthday. The main essence of this meeting was that do not hesitate to do the things we want in our life. You have to follow your dreams and do not lose your faith in yourself. JUST DO IT!"

And also in some moment a catchphrase was born. In addition this is the first video in my blog.

And the guy who got it on tape.

And then i said goodbye to them as well and we all went our separate ways

Then i did a little walk around the city and returned to the bar. There i met two business man, one German and one Chinese. And the talk we had was now completely different. So they bought me few beers and we talked just about society and business.

After they left i went for another walk and picked up one German traveler and one Canadian girl and brought them to the bar again. But we just had a coffee and little half an hour chat until they had to go.
After that i stayed in the bar and had few rounds of shots with the staff and it was pretty much the end of the night for me.

Had two small beers on the main square and even though i had a place for the night i decided that its a good idea to spend the night on a main square.

In the morning i had early wake up call by the police, which was actually one of the reasons i wanted to sleep over there. One local invited me to a morning coffee and the new day could begin.

So i went back to my home bar to have some beers. I went for a cigarette and saw two beautiful girls over there and went to speak with them. Then they asked what i was doing in Valencia and I just casually mentioned that I'm walking across Europe and Valencia is just on my road. Well they got so exited about that and started asking a lot of questions. It turned out that they were there actually with the full class on a field trip and in two minutes time i had about 40 students listening me. And because my home bar is on a main square many other tourists approach as well to listen me. These are the very sweet moments of my trip.

Then the the rest of the day pretty much nothing happened.
In the evening i picked up two street artists and invited them for a drink to listen their stories as well. For me the trip isn't so much about visiting new places than it is about meeting new people.

And when i was about to go back to my Argentinian host place i met TWO ESTONIANS. The last time that happened was back in October in Saint-Tropez. They live here and do all kinds of jobs. So we had few beers and talked in our native language.

After that i saw my host and went to his place. There we had our traditional good night tea and talked about everything. And i gave him a drunken promise to cook an typical Estonian dish as well.

Tuesday i had a very difficult morning and noon. I guess my body isn't so young anymore. Two British girls called me to invite me out for a lunch and some other numbers were there as well. But because i felt so bad i didn't answer non of those calls and just  turned off my phone.

And with that the celebration of my birthday had ended.

In the evening i kept my drunken promise and cooked to Argentinian a typical Estonian dish. He had never seen or heard about that kinda dish. But he loved it so much that he memorized the recipe and ate for three persons.

After that two Estonians called me and we went to a square were i had just few small beers and little bit of sangria as well. But not enough to get drunk again.

And then i went back to my Argentinian host place and had the tea with him again.

Today i slept until 2 pm again. Had few coffees and since then Ive been working on my blog post.

Right now the plan is to stay at least one more night here and try to earn some money. After that i don't have a place to sleep here anymore so i don't know what i will decide to do. But it all depends on three things i think. If i can earn some money and meet many lovely persons and have a place to sleep. I will leave Monday.

So far 2931 km.

Hanging out with nice people

Monday after the blog post i stayed in the Internet cafe for many good hours because it was still raining.
Little after 7 pm i finally left from the town and arrived in Valencia after 10pm.

From the moment i got to the center i was welcomed by one local who gave me the city map for free.
After that i did a little walk around the city and went to sleep in a park.

Tuesday i tried to earn some money which turned out to be a disaster again. The police here is most of the time okey but its just the end of January and people are out of money. Which i actually expected to be. So for once I'm happy that i have my birthday in the winter.

In the evening one guy, who had just recently red my blog, came and invited me for a beer. He had been itching to go back packing but so far never had the guts to do the first step. So i answered all his questions, gave him some extra advice and motivated him. And now his sure that in the next summer his going to travel.

Later i went back to earn money which was still a disaster. So i figured that I'm going to make a new sign that is bilingual. And I was hoping that it will help me out a bit in the next day.

Then little time later one Argentinian saw me and asked if i have a place to sleep. So he offered me a room in his apartment. But before that he wanted to train for a juggling contest a little bit in the square. I gave it a try as well but it was just dropping balls for me.

Wednesday i tried to earn some money again but it was even worse than the day before. But because now the sign is also in Spanish the Spanish people game to talk with me as well (or more than usually). I even went for a coffee with one guy who didn't speak any English at all. After half an hour i did left with a headache because of all the thinking i made just to be able to speak and all the new words i learned in a very short perioud of time. But i was worth it.

In the evening the Argentinian came to juggle again in the square and we attracted some other people as well. So in one group we were speaking English, Spanish, Italian and french. It was nice relaxed evening. And i had a room in his place again.

Thursday i gave a try for earning money but the same story again - disaster.
In the evening two guys from the states saw my sign and came to talk with me. They are actually awesome guys. They are 20 and 22 years old and both are professional musicians. One makes music for movies and TV-series and the other one makes music for commercials. So we talked a bit about everything and then they offered me a place in their house in the center.
First i dropped off my bag and then we went out again. And we went to an open mic night at one club were one of them played music as well. After that we met with many people over there, went to one apartment for a small party and after that to their place.

Friday was a bit better day for me. We stayed at the flat somewhere around 4 pm. Then we went to some square were they were skate boarding. Later i went to earn some money. Which wasn't better than it was in the previous days. But then i joined forces with one street musician. While he played flute next to my bag, i was dancing with the music with a big smile on my face. And i had a hat in my hand so i approached pretty much every person and many of them gave money as well. I put smile on every single persons face which felt so good. We shared our income 50-50 and it was still way better than each of us had earned alone.

In the evening i went out with one of the guys from the States. We walked around, visited a bar and talked with some girls. After what we went back to the flat were we drank some more beers.

And today i hoping to have a very good day. After this I'm going to walk around in the city and try to find a hairdresser and get my hair cut. Then i have some free time and in the evening I'm going with the guys and with the german girls (the ones who i met in sagunto) to some bars around the university area. There i should be able to get a pint under two euros and with those prices i can start celebrating my birthday.

Before i arrived in Valencia i was absolutely sure that i wont leave from this city without my phone and without new shoes. But right now it looks like I'm leaving without my phone because I'm not going to stay here another 10 days just to wait for the shipment of my phone. When right now I'm not even earning enough money to make it even everyday. And its possible that i might have to leave even without new shoes.

But I'm going to take out some birthday presents from the ATM machine and have a good day. And then I'm leaving probably on Monday.

So far 2931 km.

Fernweh

If you are unfamiliar with this German expression like i was then it means crave for travel ;"farsickness"; being homesick for a place you've never been. And that pretty much describes me dead on.

Thursday after the blog post once again i stayed in Tarragona a bit longer and started walking a bit after midnight. At that moment i was so tired that i was sure that i will walk just out from town and go tho sleep in the first place i will find. But being on the road felt just so good that I kept on walking until 5 am and passed trough even other towns.
There is just something special with me and the road.

Pretty much nothing happened on Friday. I took it slowly and enjoyed my walk and went to sleep in an olive farm once again.

Saturday was a bit more adventurous. At one moment the road changed to motorway again and there was no alternative road for me to walk on. So i had to do some off road walking for about 3 km before i could return to the road. But to do that i had to walk down from a steep 15 meter hill next to the road. But the soil was way looser than i expected. I had made few steps down when the ground under my feet started slippering away. So i got down in about 3 seconds followed by stones. At that moment i looked up and was wondering wtf had just happened. Laughed at myself like usually, stood up and kept on walking. But nothing very serious happened. Just some bruises, scratches and broken fingernail.

The evening walk was pretty nice as well. I was walking on a road were 7 out of 10 vehicles were trucks. And it was a busy road. Usually when i see a truck coming i stop in the side of the road. But on this evening they were constantly coming. So the first one hour was a nice rush of adrenaline for me because all the trucks passed by me with an average distance of 40 cm. But after an hour it was all normal and boring again.

Sunday was also pretty nice. For a start i started seeing mandarin farms everywhere again and i haven't seen them since south Italy. So from Sunday I've been eating around 2 kg of mandarin's every day. Sunday was also a very windy day so the wind blew me around a lot which sometimes seemed to be a bit dangerous. In the evening i walked trough one small town to buy food but unfortunately all the shops were closed. Luckily for me one restaurant worker saw my sign and invited me in and offered a good pasta to me.

For Monday i have nothing to write.

Tuesday was a nice day already that boosted up my moral a bit. Always when I'm on the same road for days truck drivers start to recognise me on the road. And when they see me walking they either wave or signal to me which is always a nice thing. In the evening i made coffee breaks in those big truck stops. And there it was also nice because there was always somebody there who recognized me and bought me a coffee or offered a cigarette.

Wednesday was even better. Somewhere around 3 pm i made a little stop in a small town again. I stayed there for three hours and had few beers with some guys. But that's not the case here. When i was walking out from town i saw a friend from Saint-Tropez who was just about to enter to the town. He was the guy with who i spent almost every night together in the last two weeks when i stayed in Saint-Tropez. And he is also pretty much the only crazy guy who is heading to north right now when everybody else is heading south.
So we both cancelled our plans to move on for the day and went to a bar. There i drank my beers and for him i bought coffees, cokes and food (he doesn't drink). We talked about the things that had happened and were just catching up. Then we went to sleep in the same place together.
In the morning we made our coffees, then had our coffees in the cafe. And then we had a little treasure hunt because i had lost my walking sticks and my map in the previous night. But they were still all in the bar and we found both of them easily. Then he happened to have few cigars that somebody had given to him. We smoked cigars and said goodbye once again.

Thursday in the evening i arrived in Castello which was quite nice city actually. But i just visited the Internet point and walked trough. Not much happened that day.

Friday was also pretty nice again. In the day time i did my walking like normally. In the evening when i was passing by another small town i decided to have a coffee break. I ordered my coffee and went to sit outside so i could have my cigarette at the same time. And just when I'm about to leave from the bar, two girls walk out from the bar with three beers and sit in my table and start speaking with me. In the course of two hours three other girls also joined with us and they kept buying me beers and food. But after two hours i finally decided that I'm going to keep walking and moved on.

Saturday morning i woke up in a mandarin farm when the workers came. But they were very nice and offered me mandarins for breakfast.
Somewhere before Sagunt/Sagunto i changed the road to go to Sagunto (the port city) where i had to change the roads again. But somewhere i made the wrong turn towards Sagunt and that mistake costed me 9 km of extra walking.
But it was a good thing that i made that mistake. Because in Sagunt a car with four girls stopped and started talking with me. After 5 minutes they asked if i have plans for the evening. Well the plan was to keep on walking but when four girls ask you out on a Saturday evening you automatically cancel all your plans. So i gave them my number and told them to call me in few hours when I'm in the Sagunto (the city where i should have been in the first place). There i went to a cafe to kill time until they call. But coincidentally the cafe where i went to kill time was also their gathering point before they were going to call me. So we got together a bit earlier. We went trough many bars in the evening and drank until 3 am and had a good time again. And also they paid my drinks once again.
 There is a possibility that one of the girls is coming to Valencia to celebrate my birthday with me. Its on 25-th of January (Sunday) but i will start celebrating Saturday evening already.

And yesterday was a pretty slow day for me. In the evening it started raining so i stopped in a town just 12 km before Valencia where i still am.
But I've been actually lucky with the weather because day times have now been normally over 20 degrees and sunny so i even got little bit sunburned.

And about Valencia. I'm looking for a good and cheap student bar in the center of Valencia where i can spend my evenings and birthday. So if you know one, write a comment or even better you can give me a call 654 925 583 and  invite me for a beer after 9 pm.

So far 2919 km.

The Mysterious girl

After the last blog post shopping and everything took a bit too much time so technically i didn't leave on 22-th. But i started walking a bit after 12 pm. Getting out of Barcelona was a bit complicated because i had to walk little bit inland before i could take the road to the coast. Then 6 am i did three hour nap and 10 am started walking again. Only one 16 km part of the road was a bit special for me. It was a very narrow mountain road with very busy traffic. Even when i said to the locals that I'm going to walk on that road, they said that I'm crazy and see you in another life. Partly because there was only half an hour of day light left. And yes it was one of the most dangerous roads I've been walking on. And half of the time i was against the road barriers with my bag hanging over the cliff edge just to let the cars pass by. But i made it safely to Sitges

Now the plan with Mike (the guy in whose place i lived most of the time in Barcelona) was to celebrate Christmas's together in Tarragona. But because i left from Barcelona a bit too late i couldn't make it there on time by foot. So from there i took the train on Wednesday morning to Tarragona (the streets are quiet because well, it was Christmas time)

There at the train station we got together and took a taxi to a fancy four star hotel. Even the taxi driver asked twice were we want to go because back packers don't stay there usually.

So we went to look around the city. One of the things we did was that we were looking for a place were they sell Jagermeister one and a half hour which we finally found. Also we went to a pizza restaurant and after that we went to a bar to have some beers.

We forgot to take the photo together with the Christmas lights so we did it in the mall.

So late in the evening we went back to the hotel and had our very special Christmas meal.

Its never a good idea to start a morning with a class of Jagermeister but luckily this time it went well for me.

Then photo proof that i took the train back also.

And then we said goodbye to each other again.

After saying goodbye i had a beer and coffees the cure the hangover and started walking again and i walked until 2 am. Then Friday morning i started walking again and arrived in Tarragona again.

And because i already knew the town i went straight to earning money. And surprisingly it was good so i changed my plans and decided to stay here until new years eve.
Then in the evening when i was walking in one of the main squares one girl recognized me from Barcelona. And she was one of the girls who hosted me in Barcelona for one night. So she invited me to sit down with their friends and have a beer with them. Later they decided to go to another bar where they sell canya-s (0.25 l beer) for 1 euro. And after that they wanted to go to another bar where they sold the beer for the same price but you had to buy minimum four. So they actually introduced all those cheap student bars to me. And in the last bar when i went to order a beer and came back with a bucket full if free beer (the owner liked what i was doing) they looked me like i was some kind of a wizard. So we had a good night out somewhere until 3 am.
They said that they will send me the photos from the night, but unfortunately they didn't (like almost everybody else).

Then Saturday i went back to earning money and i got a really bad surprise. One of the reasons why i could easily earn money here in the previous night was that there was no police. But the Christmas time was over and now they were everywhere and even more strict than they were in Barcelona. At that moment i thought i was really screwed again.
So for the hole day i just randomly walked around the city.

In the evening i went to one of those cheap bars to have one beer because i was fucking cold.
And also there the owner liked what i was doing so he gave me all the beers for free and one litre sangria's for two euros (which i had four). So it was a good night again.

Sunday i secretly started following the police to know their walking route and soon found out that they don't go to the old town. So i found there a place where i could earn money peacefully again.

In the evening i went to another one of those cheap bars called "Mala bar" (the bar from Saturday was closed). There i tried to speak with the bartender/owner but she said that she speaks very little english which usually in Spain means just couple of words so that didn't happen.

Monday  i was earning money practically for the whole day.
In the evening i went to the Mala bar again to have couple of beers. I think that before i continue the story i have to mention that i always sit behind the bar on a bar stool. So its very easy for me to start talking with people.
So i met a guy from the states there and we started talking how cute the owner is and how she never wears a bra (seriously, she doesn't). And because from the previous night i knew she doesn't speak english we spoke quite comfortably in front of her. Later the guy left and the bartender started speaking with me in english. So it turned out that she can understand quite a lot and speak also. But from that night on we got along very well and she occasionally offered me free beers or shots.

Tuesday nothing really happened. Day time i earned money and in the evening i sat in the Mala bar again because outside it was 3 degrees.

Now Wednesday, the new years eve. Well i actually started celebrating it already at 12 am in one boring bar but i was to lazy to find another bar so i stayed there. In the evening i tried to earn some money also and then 10 pm i went back to celebrating.
But this was the shittiest new years eve I've ever had. And that's because in Spain they are celebrating it in home with their families. I mean it was so shitty that the streets were empty and there was even no fireworks. Luckily in front of the cathedral there was a little celebration where they played music for half an hour but that was it.

Thursday i was in a bit of a hungover but i still went to earning money. But nothing really happened and my favorite bar (Mala bar) was closed for 31 and 1 of January so i went to sleep early.

Now we are in Friday which for me was a very good day. Like almost always in day time i earned money and in the evening went to the bar. There few guys from the states came to ask about my trip. At that moment i was in a very good mood and i saw that they are actually interested about that. So i started speaking about all the stories and stuff. And in few minutes time i got so alive that i spoke with all the emotions and body. Then at one moment half of the bar had eyes on me and free drinks started to appear.

Little later i went out for a cigarette and there i saw a beautiful girl who from now on lets call The Mysterious girl. Now unfortunately for you guys what happened in the next 36 hours is not going to be published on this blog.

So i skip straight to Sunday. In the day time was earning money again like usually and in the evening went to to the Mala bar. There i met few guys from the states again (i don't know why there is so much of them here) and talked about traveling and South America and they also bought me beers again. Little later when they left i saw two girls sitting behind the table. So i told the bartender to bring them two beers and put it on me. After that the girls invited me to their table and we had a good night again. And the girls ended up paying their drinks and mine.

Monday i spent the first half of the day with The Mysterious girl so you don't hear nothing about that.
And in the evening i went to a bar again with group of girls and had a great night again.
Also there was a parade on that evening to celebrate the three kings day which here is very important.

Tuesday i tried to earn money but that was a complete disaster because the streets were empty and everybody are out of money from celebrating. So i just randomly walked around the city and in the evening had just two beers in a bar to have a warm place to stay.
Also for a moment i got together with The Mysterious girl to say goodbye which was actually the hardest one I've had during my trip. And she also gave me enough money for me to be able to walk to Valencia.

Well the plan was to leave on Wednesday. But as you probably know they never work out for me.
So the first few hours of the day i tried to earn some money which didn't work out again. And then it was time to write the diary again. This time i didn't wrote it because i was missing a pen. Luckily The Mysterious girl even gave that to me. But once again that took too long so i decided to stay one more night.
In the evening went to earn money again and surprisingly it was almost good (probably because i was freezing).
So i went to the Mala bar to have some drinks and to say goodbye to the owner and to the bartender.
And then a bit before 11 pm electricity went out and the emergency lights were only burning. Then the only ones who were allowed to stay was me, one other regular and staff. So we drank beer and laughed about the situation. Then about 20 minutes later the ambulance, police and fire brigade arrived. After 5 minutes when it was clear that there is no problem everybody chatted and laughed.
Then for a moment i thought that my last night out is ruined. But the owner and the bartender invited me out with them and paid almost all my drinks. So it ended up being a very good night.

And today ( Thursday 08.01) i have been mostly saying goodbyes to people and working on the blog post.
Although its late already I'm still leaving today. Here it gets too cold already and i cant earn money anymore.
But i think i have now some motivation to make shorter stops in the city's and finish my trip faster because then i can see The Mysterious girl again. Who is partly the reason why I'm still here.

And about the Mala bar that i have been mentioning a lot in this post. If you go to the placa de la font and start walking towards the cathedral take the second street to the right. Its open every day from 8 pm to 2.30 am. You have very cheap prices, lovely staff and the clients are all mostly young people.

So far 2660 km.