back in berlin, for now

weeeeeeell shoot, what the hell do i say now. i've been gone for a month and a half and haven't really written down anything. and honestly i'm not gonna try super hard. stockholm was a really incredible city. it was epic, beautiful. i was lucky enough to hook up with some cool people while i was there, with whom i spent the majority of my time. it might be a cliché, but it is pretty amazing how, traveling in europe, you meet people from all over the world at the drop of a hat. we walked around the city, drank coffee in old cellar cafés, went to museums, drank weak swedish beer. all in all a really good trip.

granada, as well, was incredibly beautiful. yes, i had major issues with my host family, but i got over it and enjoyed my time there immensely. you get the feeling that time has stood still there, not only from the architecture and streets and all that, but the people and how they live and how they spend their time. just being able to sit out in the sun on a plaza and listen to talented flamenco musicians playing because they love it, or grabbing my washboard and joining in for a couple of hours with some cats playing improvised reggae. i definitely couldn't live there - it's too slow for me - but for a short time it's a wonderful place to go. and i didn't really appreciate it until i got a little further away from the city, unfortunately on the last day, and just hiked by myself for a couple of hours in the mountains on the outskirts of town. something i don't do enough. very peaceful just to take in the breathtaking scenery, interspersed with little villages and all that. i think a problem i had with spain was that i kept expecting it to be latin america, and then it wasn't. haha i don't know what that means exactly. but i don't have to explain myself to you or anybody! so there. i also met a couple of lovely people with whom, i imagine, i will not lose contact any time soon. in summation, granada is gorgeous and i would recommend it to anyone visiting spain.

that all being said, i got pictures up (woohoo!). i am way over uploading on to facebook - it's way more trouble than it's worth - so i moved to picasa and i am LOVING it. so, here's the link to the albums for stockholm and granada (and a couple old trips as well): http://picasaweb.google.com/ballard.jw. hope you enjoy them; feel free to comment.

i'm off to poland on sunday, so i'm sure there will be lots more exciting shenanigans on which to report. until then, mach's gut und pass auf dich auf.

liebe grüße