When I was in Spain, I had a lot of time to think. Law school isn't exactly the easiest thing, and when you spend all your waking hours talking to / studying with / sitting next to in class / drinking with the SAME group of people, you get sick of it pretty quickly. Add in some boy drama, and there you go. And so I went to Barcelona.
I did the usual tourist things. I saw the Sagrada Familia. I went to the beach. I had sangria and tapas and delicious Mediterranean pizza, and went out all night with other people in my hostel. I read four books while I was gone - more non-law school books than I've read since last summer.
At one point, I was trying to find the Olympic Stadium, wandering around Mountjeuc. I got lost because my map and the road signs weren't very clear. Plus I was on this huge stupid mountain, and it was starting to get a little dark, and I had wanted to hit up a museum or two, so I was irritated. The museums didn't happen, since by the time I even found them I was exhausted and irritated and sweaty, but I've found that getting lost is always one of the best experiences I have when I travel.
When I was in Athens, one morning I decided to wander up to the top of Mount Lykavitos. Somehow I ended up on the exact opposite side of the hill from where I needed to be, and had to wander around some small winding streets finding my way back. It was kind of fun, realizing that getting lost isn't the worst thing in the world. Later that semester, I was about 45 minutes south of Thessaloniki, visiting Philip of Macedonia's tomb. It was easy to GET there from the train station, but not so easy to get back. I ended up wandering back towards the train station with the two girls I was traveling with, hoping that we made the right turns walking the couple miles back to the train. Eventually a cab picked us up, and on the way to the train station, we stopped at some random army base for ten minutes, waiting to pick up a Greek soldier, who was also heading our way.
My first week in China, the first time I saw the sun was after this ridiculous downpour, while we were wandering around the Summer Palace. The rain cleared, and we sat out for an hour on the grass by the lake, just enjoying the sunshine. Then, we ended up by some back entrance, where people go to exercise after work and to fish and row boats and stuff, and when we left, on some deserted dirt road about half a mile away from the main street. So we just sort of wandered that way until we found some cabs to take us across the city, back to our hotel.
I'm not sure what the point of these stories are. But they're fun - just me, or me and a couple friends, wandering around roads, enjoying the views. There's nowhere to go, but to follow the map, hoping I remember how to get back to where I'm supposed to be. Maybe there's some extended metaphor here about how to live... one wrong turn, and you have to figure out how to get where you're going. Seeing the Olympic Stadium was cool - there was some sort of event going on in the building next to it, and they were playing a fun song loudly. The sun was setting, and it was just pretty. That wasn't the last thing I did that day, or even necessarily the coolest thing that happened in Spain. It was just good to get lost, and then found again. I watched the sun set over Spain, and that was enough.
Cavafy has a poem, "Ithaka," that talks about journeys and destinations:
- When you set sail for Ithaca,
- wish for the road to be long,
- full of adventures, full of knowledge.
- The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
- an angry Poseidon -- do not fear.
- You will never find such on your path,
- if your thoughts remain lofty, and your spirit
- and body are touched by a fine emotion.
- The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
- a savage Poseidon you will not encounter,
- if you do not carry them within your spirit,
- if your spirit does not place them before you.
- Wish for the road to be long.
- Many the summer mornings to be which with
- pleasure, with joy
- you will enter ports seen for the first time;
- stop at Phoenician markets,
- and purchase the fine goods,
- nacre and coral, amber and ebony,
- and exquisite perfumes of all sorts,
- the most delicate fragances you can find,
- to many Egyptian cities you must go,
- to learn and learn from the cultivated.
- Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
- To arrive there is your final destination.
- But do not hurry the voyage at all.
- It is better for it to last many years,
- and when old to rest in the island,
- rich with all you have gained on the way,
- not expecting Ithaca to offer you wealth.
- Ithaca has given you the beautiful journey.
- Without her you would not have set out on the road.
- Nothing more has she got to give you.
- And if you find her threadbare, Ithaca has not deceived you.
- Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
- you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
