New Years Eve

Then... finally... it's one month ago to the day, but it is all still very vivid in my head.
So here it is, one of the last posts of an unforgettable trip to meet old friends, where I found all and more than I had ever thought...

Waking up in Jerez, after a loooong night, was hard, and obviously I managed to forget a couple of things here and there. Jose Antonio and I got ready for Magda to pick us up at 10.30 am. Toooooo early, I didn't even have breakfast, but ok... We had to drive off, as we had to be in the airport of Sevilla at 12.00, to pick up Alvaro, as he'd arrive from Valencia. Fortunately the plane was somewhat delayed, so we could take it easy as it turned out.
It was another great moment to Alvarito again. He's one of those people that when you meet them, you don't need many or elaborate words to describe how you feel to meet again. It's just good, and you know it.
We drove off to Jose's place, close to the University of Sevilla, and dropped of all our things there, as we were getting quite hungry! So we went to the tapas bar that was closest by, and where Magda and the others have spent many hours before. Great food, perfect for hangovers and tired and weary bodies...


Jose Antonio and the view on Triana 
After an afternoon coffee in the sun, on a terrace at the quay of the Guadalquivir, close to the Torre Del Oro, where 500 years ago the India traders docked to unload their riches, we enjoyed just seeing each other once again. Alvaro called his boss, who was actually at the office (mental note: never ever ever ever work for a consulting firm...), who, after hearing Alvaro describe the enjoyment of sitting in the warm sun relaxing with friends, just hung up the phone without a further word than 'cabrón!'

Afterwards we went to the station Sevilla - Santa Justa to pick up Esther, who'd be arriving by train from Málaga that day, also to enjoy the New Years Eve with us!
All in all we were 5 generations of Emdrup gathered that night... great!

Esther and I stayed in Dani and Sarah's flat, whereas the others were staying in Jose Antonio's place. So as we all gathered in the late afternoon we gave ourselves some hours to rest, iron, shower, shave and all those things that we metrosexuals need to get ready for a night of partying...
Around 9 pm we all got together first in Dani's flat for some Danish Tuborg Christmas Beer, and the usual photo's and we were off...!

Then, New Years Eve was there. And what a night... what a dinner!! In the end, instead of crowding Dani's flat, we ended up accepting an offer by Fabian, an Argentinean friend of Dani's. He was at that moment in the process of opening his new restaurant called *Naranja*, together with his boyfriend, and we were invited to do the unofficial opening. (It has since opened officially and is a huge success, which is really great to hear, as we all agreed he's got a great concept in his hands there)


All this... just for us! 
I don't remember all the dishes... but for 30 euros each we were served all the Ribero Del Duero (some of the best red wine available) we wanted, Cruzcampo and 5-6 dishes that all were delicious. Really really tasty, I can only warmly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in Sevilla! The one dish I will always remember are the shrimps prepared in an orange sauce... If you know me a little bit, you know I refuse to eat anything that comes out of the sea (including mermaids... but that's a different story)... but this... WOW!!! I actually voluntarily asked for more, to the bemusement of the others. The taste of that was just so great. I even called my mum to tell I was eating sea food without having a gun pointed at me... We also had beef, aubergine, and all kinds of things...and some dessert that was melting on my tongue...
My mouth is filling with saliva again, thinking of it!!

Afterwards we just sat, talked and drank a lot in this empty and cold restaurant. Cold, as every building in Southern Spain at this time of the year... no one there has heard of isolation, double layered windows, or central heating... but ok, not that they need it anyway so much! So, the Cacique and Pampero was flowing freely, and so were the stories... 5 generations of Emdrup, you can only imagine!

As we started to need to wear our jackets inside as the winter cold was getting to us, we afterwards went to a place (next door) called Sabor Latino, where we found only Equadorians and fairly repetive music... but as we were with a group we had fun... imagine the looks I got (apart from being dressed up stupidly with some typical New Years' stuff); me, the rusty haired white guy, drunk, and speaking Spanish, amongst (small) Southamericans of mainly Indian descent...
Still, as you can see, we were all like kids in a toy store, playing with all the colourful and by the way... noisy gifts we had gotten, irritating each other as much as possible with the horns... we were all deaf, thanks to Juanito and Fabian!


Niiiiiiiice... 


This is normal... 
Slowly our group thinned out, but Alvaro, Jose, Magda, Esther and I managed to go to another bar, where we stayed until around 7 am, having a lot of fun with my digital camera, having the kind of deep conversations as you have to have at that time of the morning and Alvaro apparently 'annoying' some Italian girls. I won't forget Jose's words: "seriously... he's going to get punched by these girls soon!!" Hahahah...


Smiiiiiiillleeeeeee.... 
Then, driving home in Magda's car was fun... imagine, a small Polo, with a tiny girl as Magda in the driving seat, and Alvaro, the biiiig guy next to her, sleeping and thus falling over everytime we took a turn... hilarious... but we made it home safe anyway!


Sweet dreams!! So long, and "Tak for i aften..." 
Some glasses of water before going to sleep... and slowly closing my eyes with another smile. Another great evening with my friends, another evening full of stories to tell in 10 years...
A todos...gracias por todo!!

Waking up the next day with another big smile I didn't have a hangover, again.... Yes, of course, I was deadtired, but after a long week like that, that is normal. Another thing that has wondered me, is that I didn't get sick at all.
Look at the 'evidence', not living a regular life for all that time, no vitamins to speak of, a total lack of sleep, too much alcohol, fat and greasy food most of the
time and lots of travelling. All ingredients for anyone to catch (at least) a cold... but no...
Guess that's the power of friendship huh? Hahahha!

Waking up, there it was, 2005... Full of nice surprises and new directions; let's see what the rest of the year brings!

And, back in Sevilla again

To the good life!! 

Sun, friends, the Guadalquivir, all on the 31st of December! I want to go back!!

One more from Écija

Smile!!!!! 

And there we are!

Go Écija!!! 

Jerez De La Frontera

And there's the update...

Ok, I've had some other things to take care of (like my studies for example??), but some people seem to become very anxious about the following adventures (thanks, Speedy, for reminding me!).

So, off (again) to Jerez de la Frontera, on the 30th of December. Off to meet Magda and Jose Antonio once again. Last time I was only there with Jose, but this time Magda would see me in her home town too.
Also, this time I would meet the mother of Jose Antonio, a flamenco dance teacher. She even has her own school, and last time I was there she wass in Japan for some teaching. Doesn't speak anything but Spanish, but she knows how to teach! One day I will stay longer, and I'd love to see one of the classes, or even take them.
The whole family was busy and quite a bit stressed, as she was chosen to be one of the Three Kings for Jerez on the 6th of January. The arrival of the Three Kings at Jesus' crib is a large part of Catholic celebrations, and trucks will drive through the city, with the Three Kings (Reyes Magos) handing out presents to all the children. All dressed up in very fancy clothing of course, bringing you back several hundred years.
So, Jose and I went through the city for some errands, but we also went to this Sherry bodega, where I had a very tasty 'oloroso' and where we accidentally bumped into Magda's mother too!



I liiiiiike Sherry a loooooot... 


We met up with Magda later, as she came straight from work, went to her parents' house as we had to pick up some things. Also there I was welcomed very warmly, and treated on a 'fino' and some 'jamon serrano' and some cheese. Very tasty, but we had to head for the appartment of Belma, Magda's best friend, for a big dinner party, organised partly for me. Good friends!!! I knew Belma as well, as she had been to Denmark to visit Magda when she lived here.

It was a great evening, maybe not so much unlike most dinner parties anywhere, but with some differences that stand out.
For example in Denmark, the host will rarely provide for the drinks, here all you can think of was there. Some had brought some wine, but that was it. As soon as the dinner was over (everybody had cooked something), the bottle of rum and whiskey were put on the table. And good stuff, not the fantasy brand names you buy in a discount supermarket here in DK. ...I love Cacique!
Another thing: they didn't have to be drunk to be loud and have a conversation, something that Danes still need to learn. Any kind of topic was covered, and as they are 'real' Spanish, everyone was in at 4 conversations at the same time. Hilarious!
Right after dinner one girl got a guitar and started playing all kinds classic (flamenco) songs, and songs they had learned in high school or as kids. So great, fortunately no crappy Danish Christmas music in sight, and no top 40 shit.


Toca la guitarra, morena!! 


It was all very spontaneous, and everyone was lovely company. Apart from lovely dark eyes everywhere, I heard brilliant stories from one guy who turned out to be a sailor on a cargo ship. He was telling about how to bribe the custums offices, the police and the tax authorities in Morocco: just give them a packet of cigarettes and a bottle of crappy wine. (So much for muslims not drinking, huh?) And, of course, that 'horrible and depraved Western smut', called porn. The easiest way to get your cargo into the country. Haha, maybe this info will come handy one day!!

After me having to try and remember out loud and repeat the names of all 18-19 people in the room (which I did, except for one guy), we moved the tables out of the way, our hostess, Belma, all the time tried to keep us down, as we were quite loud, and neighbours are not always so forgiving...


'Just' another group picture... 


At 12 we celebrated New Years, one day in advance, as we wouldn't be together the following day. I was funny, as I didn't really realise until they started counting down, and we had to eat the grapes, 1 on each toll of the bell.... Another Spanish tradition.
Music was played, the way of dancing very alien to DK and soooo much more alive.

As I was getting really tired (of doing so much in the previous days, without sleeping enough), I tried to convince Magda and Jose to head home, but the girls stopped us, and convinced me to stay. This part was for me after all?? And I still had to dance with them...
So.... oooookkkkkkk... I'll stay...

Some guys had arrived in the meanwhile, apparently both friends of the hostess and guitarists. One had brought his guitar and the other grabbed the other one. I was enchanted. Their play flowed into one, and the girls were dancing.
So great to see and hear. I have made some videos and took some pictures, but they didn't turn out well, you can hardly make out anything, except for the fact that they all danced well.
The rum had gone by then, so Jose started serving some of the best sherry I know: Canasta... with some ice cubes... hmmmmmm!

Then out of the blue, in a quiet moment, a girl named Veronica started to sing. Some flamenco song. I couldn't recognise it or make out what is was, but everyone seemed to know it. It was beautiful; she just sang a few lines, but I just stood there and smiled in awe. No one would ever even consider something like that here in Denmark. As much as the evening went as many dinner parties everywhere in the world, it was a touch like this that will etch it in my mind.
Don't have any pictures of it, except for in my head...

The last thing for me there was to join in for dancing. Now, I can dance, and have few problems following a Southamerican rhythm, but dancing flamenco is something else. The stresses on the rhythms are different, and it's not your average 3/4 or 4/4 beat. With several rhythms being clapped by the girls (the 'compás'), and the guys playing the melody, I tried to do my best with my dancing partner. Fortnately she was good, and she could give me hints during the dancing. Well, for a first try, at 3 am somewhere in Jerez: not bad for a 'guiri'! Fortunately the pictures are not good, so I won't post them...

Then, I couldn't keep awake anymore basically, and knowing we'd have a loooooong day ahead of us the next day, we finally managed to excuse ourselves. Don't know how long the party went on, but I am sure the sun was rising for the others.

And again... it was 4 am when we went to sleep. Well, let's rephrase that: when I passed out (with a big smile!) and Jose was still on the phone with Mexico...
And the next day Magda would pick us up at 10.30... as we had to make it to the airport to pick up Alvaro, who'd be arriving from Valencia around mid-day.

For obvious reasons, we wanted to leave Dani and Sarah alone for as long as we could, and just spent a great afternoon in Sevilla and we still had time to prepare for the great evening that was ahead of us, New Years Eve!
...and if you want to see my preparation... I'm sure Dani is going to put pictures up... Me, ironing...and Esther just laughing at me!!

(update to follow)

Stereotypes, anyone?

Yup, I was in Spain alright... 

Cacique and Dani, or the other way around?

Next!!! 

For a calendar...

The courtyard of the country house outside Ecija. It's still early... 

Just...

Another song that will always bring me back to last summer, to the kitchen... shards of the melody drifting through the hallway, etching itself in our memories, our friends... Sunlight bathing through the windows, voices floating on the wind, bringing laughter and good times...

Here it is...

3 Doors Down - Here Without You

"A hundred days had made me older
since the last time that I saw your pretty face
A thousand lights had made me colder
and I don’t think I can look at this the same

But all these miles that separate
They disappeared now when I’m dreaming of your face

I’m here without you baby
but you're still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
and I dream about you all the time

I’m here without you baby
but you're still with me in my dreams
And tonight it’s only you and me

The miles just keep rolling
as the people either way to say hello
I've heard this life is overrated
but I hope it gets better as we go

I’m here without you baby
but your still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
and I dream about you all the time

I’m here without you baby
but your still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl it’s only you and me

Everything I know, and anywhere I go
it gets hard but it won’t take away my love
And when the last one falls, when it’s all said and done
it get hard but it won’t take away my love

I’m here without you baby
but your still on my lonely mind
I think about you baby
and I dream about you all the time

I’m here without you baby
but your still with me in my dreams
And tonight girl it’s only you and me"

Good night, talk to you tomorrow again...

I watch too many movies

Heheheh... on my usual morning round of newspapers and all kinds of news sites, I came across the coolest toy ever... For all of you who watch too many movies, or actually want to scare of thieves...

Go for it: "you have 10 seconds to comply..."

All hands...

Well, at least finally someone is trying to do something useful.

The husband of my cousin is leaving tomorrow with some childhood friends for Sri Lanka to help rebuild several houses and an orphanage that were destroyed by the tsunami on the 26th of December.

Respect for what they will be doing, but I doubt they realise that there isn't a DYI-store around the corner... :) "Effe naar de Gamma..."

Still, the fact that they take on this work is commendable, even when a 3 week trip will only contribute the proverbial drop on a hot plate. Respect!

Good luck guys, much wisdom and creativity, all the best and stay safe!! See you back in Holland soon again!

Have they gone mad...??

One of my 'resolutions' of the new year was not to waste energy on idiots like Bush and his henchmen anymore... but reading this article made my change my mind for today...
Felt like vomitting when reading this... Such idiocy, such stupidity... I would laugh it it wasn't so pathetic...

About prisoner control in Iraq...
"Graner's attorney said piling naked prisoners into pyramids and leading them by a leash were acceptable methods of prisoner control. He compared this to pyramids made by cheerleaders at sports events and parents putting tethers on toddlers.

"Don't cheerleaders all over America form pyramids six to eight times a year. Is that torture?" Guy Womack, Graner's attorney, said in opening arguments to the 10-member U.S. military jury at the reservist's court-martial."

Wednesday the 29th of December...

I needed some inspiration and motivation to be able to write about the next day, so much happened with (for me) a mixture of feelings and expectations.
So, I popped in the new Maná dvd 'Aceso Total', and while 'Angel de Amor' is seriously kicking in, my fingers are flying over the keyboard...

Finally... to Écija... to visit Elena and Fatima, both of them I hadn't seen for 2,5 years, since I brought them and Dani to the airport in June 2002...

For 2,5 years I have promise I would one day knock on their door in their home town, and finally, we did.
Écija, on the road in between Córdoba and Sevilla, in an area also called the 'frying pan of Spain', as the temperatures in summer easily can get up to 50 degrees.

Dani and I drove off too late of course, as we needed to sleep a bit after the previous night... and we had some things to take care of before driving off.
I didn't want to come emptyhanded as they mean a lot to me, so the Dutch part of me took over and we had to buy some flowers... They turned out really really nice by the way and the conversation we had with the shopowners was surreal too.
What was the case? The lady was German and had moved with her Spanish husband from Dortmund to Sevila, where he originally was from. In their Spanish (especially hers) Dani and I had noticed a funny accent already, but I couldn't quite trace it, as he obviously was Spanish. So, carefully I asked whether or not she was Spanish, and no... as German as it comes. So, we switched to German, which obviously she loved, even though I have to admit was very hard to me. Not that it had been that long since I had last heard or spoken German, but because my mind was focussed on Spanish and English (even when meeting Sarah 2 days later I need a second to switch back properly to Danish). So we ended up having a hilarious discussion about flowers and about the Dutch who according to the guy have 90 % of the worlds' flower market. Don't know if that is true, but 10 km. from my Dutch home town is the worlds' biggest flower auction... so could be... Anyway...
He called the Dutch for 'the flower Gitanos/gypsies', as they are good traders and hard bargainers, and make money out of everything... well, I could only agree with him there!! haahaha!

Then, finally, on our way, at 13.00... and we were supposed to be there at 12.30... ooops!! Sorry!
Elena even called on the way to ask where we were as she was getting hungry, and yes, we were coming, and no, no idea when...

So, there we were... seeing them, I realised how little they, Dani and I had changed... it was just great. Too bad it had taken that long to meet again.
They loved the flowers (I have to admit, they were very nice) and after dropping off all our things in Elena's house, seeing all kinds of small things and reminders of Copenhagen, we went for some tapas, catching up and a walk through Écija, a town of only 40.000, but with a history that dates back to the Romans. The city of the towers they call it, for good reason. There are several (church) towers, some restored, some falling apart, but all with a history, as with all ancient buildings in Andalucía with a fascinating blend of Arab and European architecture.


The streets of Écija, and las morenas de allí 

To be honest, it surprised me a bit, but I really enjoyed it there. The old town, it was so 'typical, and still stylish and attractive. A good place to live. With it's own problems of course, because when ou want to build something, you need to dig in the earth... and the earth contains many treasures of the past, so... the construction gets delayed etc etc... Sounds familiar??

Some supermarket shopping, for our dinner, and by Fati's house (where her mother served us home made 'dulces' and within 5 minutes we were presented childhood photo's of Fati, in traditional dress and all! brilliant!!)for some last things, and we were off to the 'campo', the country side. To a house that has been owned by the family of Elena's father for several generations, with a huge piece of land surrounding it. It's been restored and enhanced over the years, so you can actually fit a huge family in there. I think it was only 2 years ago that electricity was installed... So cool that place, really really beautiful. And... imagine the parties you can have!


'En el campo' 

Of course we (well, Fati did...) cooked the one thing we could do there. A tortilla de patatas! Really, Fati is the queen of the tortilla. You should have seen it, it looked absolutely perfect again!
So, a dinner, with all the ingredients, Danish Christmas beer, tortilla, bread and all that... slowly warming by the fire place.

Afterwards, we had hardly opened the bottle of Pampero and the conversation turned to the age-old topic of... well... you know... At the end of the night (yeah, "let's not make it too late..." it was 'only' 4 am aaaaggaaaaiiinn...) we knew a looot more about each others lives. As surreal as it was, it was quite interesting. I won't give any hints even here, as that was all just between us, but it was very enlightening!

What a night, in an old huge country house. And what a drive towards it, over roads that shouldn't have that name... in total darkness, in the middle of nowhere, with the only heating a large fireplace. We were sitting with blankets, extra layers, and the lovely smell of the wood burning. It was so quiet, so relaxed. The tranquility was very soothing.


It was cold, ok!!! 

The next morning, after a good sleep, we woke up again to beautiful sunshine, lighting up the area, the courtyard, all... It was cold, but with a crisp, clean, clear air.
Even Elena, who had been sick most of the days before, felt a lot better, probably the rum helped well for the cough!


Lovely house... and damn'... it was cold! 

We finally drove to meet Fatima's driving teacher at 12.30 in Écija... as both he and she were late, we arrived perfectly on time ;)
After saying our goodbyes and promises of meeting soon again we drove back with a smile to Sevilla, some old demons excorcised, some new sweet memories and off to the next adventure. Dani to Málaga to pick up Sarah and me to Jerez, once again, for another unexpected day and night.


The last one before leaving 

Pieces all over the world...

Just a post in between the torrent of stories...

When I choose the name for this weblog I thought of how many of my friends and memories are spread all over the world, and made this up, not knowing how extremely true it would turn out...

Arriving in Benalmadena, in the flat of Jaime, I just have to look across the street to see my childhood. The hotel were my parents and I used to go. I was there the first time when I was 2 or 3 years old and the last time was the summer of 1988... t was surreal to see it again... all the souvenir shops and small supermarkets and all that are still there, as if time stood still. But then again, tourists are still the same, huh?

The next piece I found was meeting with Esther, Jaime and Dani in Málaga. There were several 'generations' of Emdrup gathered there, with the nexus of it all (not my words, words of Todd!): me... We were there with an air of normalcy that amazed me. As if we had met the month before...

Then, in Dani's appartment on the walls, foto's... Foto's of our trip to Hamburg, to see Maná, pictures from the yellow kitchen: with Dani, Sarah, Guillaume, Sara and me, music, images all that... everything to remind us of our time in Denmark.

In Écija there is (apart from mementos in Elena's and Fati's place) quite a publicly visible 'part' of me. Without exhaggerating it, it's fun. In the historical museum there is a statue of Aphrodite (if I am correct?), and there are only 3 versions of that statue, in Écija, and of course... in Copenhagen... One day, Elena had asked me on behalf of her father, I had gone to the Glyptotek her in Copenhagen (beeeeaauuuutiful museum btw...) and took (after a long time searching) a loooot of pictures of the statue there. They were sent to Spain, and used for research in the museum in Écija. So even there... even there is my little contribution, another little piece.
Oh yes, and of course we saw the whole museum that afternoon... ehhhh...

In Sevilla another happily weird encounter... well, 2 actually, as you can read in the previous posts...
First meeting up with Angela, from Leon, but that was planned... as odd as it was to meet there, in Triana, in Sevilla...
Then later during the night, meeting Rafa, the Mexican, with all his family. He's still in Denmark, in Copenhagen, but haven't seen him for years... and there we are; on a Tuesday night, listening to flamenco, drinking good rum, and totally amazed...

Another one... walking Sunday night through the streets of Granada, with our luggage, heading towards Esther's place, I suddenly heard my name beng called behind me... I was amazed, Esther not... :)
It was Luisja, a friend of Ana, a girl from Valladolid, that was here in Denmark for summer school. We had a couple of days here, talking and hanging out, just before they returned to Spain. We had exchanged contact info, but not really kept in touch, and then... suddenly you meet in the streets of Granada. He was there to ski in the Sierra Nevada for a couple of days, and I had just arrived with a friend from Sevilla... weird, surreal, crazy, and soooo cool!

Then the last one... my last night there. Esther and I had gone off to Torre Del Mar, to her parents' place at the Costa Del Sol, to be closer to the airport as I had to get up really early the next morning... They were just in the middle of moving all their things to there from Lucena, so there were things everywhere.
And still, in her room my eye caught something. I saw an envelope with my handwriting on it... It was from (probably) a birthday card I had sent her 4 years ago. She had somehow kept it, and somehow it had ended up on the top of the pile of paper hat was lying there...
Another piece of me in an unexpected place...

I still can't get over all these coincidences, although the others weren't so much. they were almost expecting it.
In anyway, it confirmed my very first thoughts on my weblog and things I have expressed over the last years. It's like a treasure hunt, and I will keep searching for the pieces, trying to make the puzzle fit.

Until next time!!!!!! I could go on and on... and I haven't even mentioned being plunged back in time with all the old pictures I have seen of me, and all these people I have met... I'm just smiling here...

The next day...

So, I had hardly been in Andalucía 24 hours and had already travelled 5 years of memories...
The next morning (well, around 12) Dani and I drove off towards Sevilla, after dropping Jaime off at the station in Málaga first. On the way we were listening to all kinds of music, of course singing loud to Maná, but especially listening to some flamenco, like Paco de Lucía, made me realise, as we drove out of the mountains into the plains of La Campiña, how much that music belongs to the earth there. And how it can only have come out of that area: it just fits perfectly. The clarity of the sounds, the dryness of the land, the purity of the singing compared to the blue skies, the long stretches of land, the roughness and hardship it can give... I don't think I can explain properly, or even put it into proper words, but it just 'fits'.

Arriving in Sevilla was a 'special moment' for us, as we had many times before in Copenhagen, but I had never been to Dani's hometown when he was there, so after installing ourselves in his flat (which is the flat of his childhood, where he grew up) we went for a walk in the city. The immediate area, 'las Golondrinas', are a stone throw away from the Guadalquivir, the river where the ships left for the New World, 500 years ago, bringin much wealth to Sevilla and its surroundings. From there we walked straight into town, seeing his junior high school (which is now a gym), past the Andalucian parliament building that used to be an ancient hospital and has been restored, into the barrio 'Macarena'. You'll recognise the name, it gave name to this horrible summer hit from some years ago...
At the beginning there is the 'puerta de Macarena' a yellow coloured gate, one of the old gates in the ancient city walls, of which there are still some remnants. Walking straight down the road I took many pictures of typical Andalucian houses, many of them newly renovated. Many houses stand empty though in the old city centres of Sevilla and Granada for example, they are old and in need in serious reconstruction. I wish I had the money, I'd buy these old houses in an instant and make it into someting beautiful. One can earn good money on that. Arriving in the center we walked around in between the chaotic and mad shopping crowd, everyone rushing to find their Christmas presents (in Spain Christmas presents are given on the night to the 6th of January), finally meeting Dani's mother and him showing his old room. Very funny to see things and artifacts related to friends, from a long time ago.


The tower to the 'entrance' of Triana, Sevilla 

Afterwards we walked to Triana to meet Angela, a girl from Léon who is studying in Copenhagen this year. She was in Sevilla to visit her sister who lives in Triana (no, I am not jealous at alllllll), so why not meet up? We had a coffee, afterwards went for some lovely and delicious (and greasy) tapas in a famous tapas place, where I was once again confronted with the Spanish a dinner table. Hilarious: everyone is loud, talking a lot, following 3-4 conversations at the same time, and eating and drinking a lot at the same time. It's an art, what can I say? Hahahaha!


Our first cañas of the night 

After a few 'cañas' we went off to the next bar, where Dani apparently spent a loooot of time in his younger days, and started on the 'cubatas'. Why not? Lovely Venezuelan Pampero dark rum, with ice and lemon... hmmmmm... and there we went again!
Off to the next bar, which was opening at 12. A famous flamenco bar, that only opens a few days per week between 12 and 3 am, and has all kinds of people playing there. This time it was turn to some older men, friends of Dani's parents actually. In the line outside (a looong one, everyone ran in, as soon as they opened) I saw one guy that I knew I had seen before... but I couldn't think of his name at that moment... as we had to hurry in, I didn't think about it anymore.
The actual 'show' was great and hilarious, good music, a funny hostess, Dani dancing (I have a great video!), some French tourists dancing and all of us just going for Pampero all the time... Brilliant...
And the end, when people started leaving again, and I saw that guy again... and then it struck me... Rafael! From Mexico, he was on exchange in DK in the autumn of 2001, decided to stay because of a Danish girlfriend, and there we are: in Sevilla, in Triana, on a Tuesday right after Christmas 2004... as Dani also remembered him we went over and were amazed by the coincidence. Or maybe not even so much, pieces all over the world! 3 years later...
He was there with his family, as he was now on exchange in Barcelona (still studying in Copenhagen). We were introduced to his sister (woooooooooooooooooow!!), his cousin (more about her later...), his male cousin and his girlfriend, and his mother. As we had to catch up we spent the rest of the night together and went of to the next bar... 'Raya Real'. Amazing, always meeting people everywhere... I love it!
The night actually finished with all of us going to this place: 'Raya Real' (Dani, correct me if I am wrong), another bar totally dedicated to flamenco. There we met Jose Luis, a 60 year old guy, 4 kids, completely drunk and speaking with a heavy Andalucian accent... but we understood each other, as for one thing he was very visually speaking about the breasts of the girl that was sitting opposite of us, the cousin of Rafael... Hilarious... the other guy that I spoke to, a friend of Jose Luis, was just sitting there with a content drunk smile, looking at his watch at 4 am saying he had to get up in 3 hours to go to work... I got many 'important' and 'wise' words from these 2 old 'Sevillanos', they seemed quite content with meeting a foreigner who spoke their language, who wanted to drink with them and enjoyed their music...
In the bar some visitors were playing guitar and singing, but otherwise it was just us drinking and dipping ourselves into the roots of the city. Mexicans and Dutch alike.

So, finally we had enough, no more music was played, we took a taxi home and crashed with a big smile in our beds, a long day in the end, full of surprises and unexpected meetings!

Another 24 hours...

(second draft of post, update to follow, with more pictures added)

And here we go...

As tired as I still am, and in need of refocussing on what's ahead, I can't stop thinking yet of my last 10 days... They were too rich in experiences and too important to me to just move on. Tomorrow, my alarm clock will ring at 7 am, and I'll sit behind my desk and go for it, but now I just want to write down, before the details fade...

Therefore...

The 26th of December 2004... in the days before I had been cooking Christmas food with and for my grandmother and had spoken to many old friends, catching up and talking about our plans for the future...
And in the meanwhile I was packing all kinds of clothes, as I had no idea what I would encounter... and that was 19 degrees, sitting on a terrace at the river Guadalquivir in Sevilla, with the bull ring on one side, and Triana on the other side of the river... anyway, that's for later...

Then, I heard about this catastrophy in Asia, worried about a friend in India, not really giving it much else thought, not realising that it would actually even cast its long shadow over the trip to Spain. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans huh?
Well, it so happened that Sarah, the girlfriend of Dani whom I was going to visit and spend New Years with, was with her family on Phuket, Thailand... She was there for a Christmas holiday, away from everything, with her family, to gain new strength and recover from quite a bad year... so much for relaxing, huh? Trying not to sound too cynical, but why do bad things happen to good people?

So, that kind of coloured our planning, but still, all ended up prettttttty good!

Had a stop in Barcelona before catching the plane to Málaga. There I just missed Scott, an English guy who used to live here too, he was at the bagage claim when I was walking around looking for him.... oh well... next time!
I enjoyed the airport. It's beautiful, classy and stylish. Or what the people there would say; very Catalan (I hope you hear the sarcasm in my voice). No matter what I walked around with a biiggg smile, practicing my erratic Spanish, but managing quite well. Enjoying the views, after which the plane to Málaga was quite a bummer, only ugly, fat and pale white English on their way to have more English breakfast and other fat food at the Costa Del Sol...

Then at 22.40 I finally landed in Málaga... with a tray of 24 Danish Tuborg Christmas beers under my arm (bought in the airport in Copenhagen), a Tuborg Christmas hat on, and my backpack... in other words: a total 'guiri' tourist! I had warned Dani in advance that he and Jaime would be ashamed when I would walked out of the doors... and yes, they were!! The faces of the people standing and waiting outside were priceless!

We headed home as quickly as possible, as we still needed dinner and to buy our drinks for the night! Jaime had come directly from Granada, with a hangover, and Dani came directly from Sevilla, where he had been working until 8 pm... so... off to some 24 hrs store, who hopefully would still sell us our much needed rum... it was after 10 om after all!

We managed to scrap some stuff together, got home, started cooking and had dinner at 12... good time to begin!
From there on it all went downhill...


All the necessary ingredients to a crazy night... 
...within 4 hours we had finished two bottles of rum (Cacique, of course) and had then started to call everyone we knew... literally the whole world... some were awake, some had just gone to bed, and others just didn't pick up the phone... but it was a loooot of fun! Had some interesting conversations as for as I remember!
The pictures really speak for themselves...


"Hello world, this is Jaime... just want to say Dani, Peter and I are VERY drunk..." 
The rest of the night, if you have ever gone out with me, went pretty 'standard'. A walk to the club, more drinks in the club (that was fuuuuullll by the way, on a winter Sunday!)
From here I can't tell you much, as I have most information by others... but apparently we weren't even in the club that long...
As far I am concerned I don't remember anything from going home to waking up the next day... and the stories of in between I will spare you, as they are not meant for the sensitive readers among you either;)

Soooo...

Well, the rest is easy to tell... we woke up at 3 pm... got up, showered, laughed about the stupid things we did the night before and... were sitting on the terrace looking over the Mediterranean until 5, and went for our breakfast, at an old hangoverv favorite: Burger King!! What a pathetic sight we were... hilarious...

Later that evening we met up in Málaga with Esther, from Lucena (Cordoba), who is one of the first people I have ever met in my residence, in Copenhagen.
We basically haven't spoken for 4 years or more, but it was as if we had seen each other only recently... I love that feeling, and it's not with many you can have that. So, we invited her to our New Years' party as well, and of course getting drunk with old friends is more fun than hanging out with family, so that choice was easily made :)
The others were drinking beers (cañas) again, but I stayed with tea and water and such. My stomach... actually, it wasn't just the hangover (I could hear you laugh), I found out that the water from the tap there is not really beneficial to my stomach to say the least. There is a loooot of chloride in it, so... I have been sticking to water from a bottle since, as much as possible. (I mean, even when you make a cup of tea, there is a ring of chlor foam on it... disgusting...)

Then, after walking through a beautifully lit city, and seeing a skating ring (well, it was actually square) with a plastic surface, having a last beer in a very dodgy Russian bar (!!), we headed home and passed out...

And that was just the first day... barely even the first 24 hrs of the trip...

Keep hope!!

Ahhhhh, just got a great long email from an old friend, with good news and unfortunately the bad news that a common friend, a French girl we both now from our very first period in Denmark, in 1999, is now suffering from throat cancer... and has been under chemo therapy for a year now, and still keeping her spirits up.

And... just before Christmas I heard about a Danish friend who is now in hospital, around 30 years old, also with cancer, in various places... undergoing chemo therapy too...

Have to think of my post from the end of November, and stories from others from the last year...
Bwwwaaaahhh, it sucks!!!
My thoughts go out to everyone...

Home... sort of...

So, back in Denmark again...
What a trip... you'll see a lot of long posts over the next couple of days here, with pictures and all.

One thing that is for sure, is that I had a good feeling of the past AND the future when I choose the title of this weblog, back in June...
I really encountered pieces of me everywhere I went, I'll give a full account on that.

So, 'home' again in Copenhagen... or maybe less and less, 'home is where the heart is' as 'they' say.
Guess my heart is more and more tied to another country and its people. Every reason I had to go to Spain and visit my friends, was a good one, and they all got confirmed very strongly... actually I only have more reasons now and inspiration to finish and wrap up everything here, and move on...

Hasta pronto!!! You know who you are!