The petty thievery phenomena here is worse than in
other places I've been to.  Some guy tried distracting
me while another guy made an attempt at my camera, and
they tried twice even after being caught by me!  I
even witnessed an old guy get pickpocketed.  The thief
ran out just before the train doors closed.

Same deal on the night train from Madrid to Barcelona.
 Some freaky dude entered into my cabin late at night,
but I was sitting up stretching, and he backed off,
pretending to wonder where the washroom was.  The guy
made another attempt later, but I'm a light sleeper. 
Other travellers I met on the streets and hostels have
less fortunate tales to tell.  I guess we're real
targets.

I've also been cheating quite a bit on my rail pass. 
So far, I've scored 4 free rides by altering the
numbers of previously used spaces on my ticket.  I
changed a 4 to a 5 to a 9.  The last one was a bit
obvious, plus I made the change using an ink pen over
ballpoint writing, but the space was never stamped,
and the conductor gave me a little hell for it, but I
played it off since it was too difficult for him to
argue in weak English. 

Don't try using an erasable pen though, 'cuz the
conductor know, and they do test rubs with their
fingers.


BARCELONA

- The main market off the Rambla here is the best for
filling up on fruits.  Cherries and strawberries are
in season now, so a 1kg bag costs only $2 Cdn.
- Markets are also good to try out Tapas withouth
having to head to the overly flamboyant diners on the
main streets.
- Barcelona's big, and kind of a pain to walk around
compared to other cities I've been to.  The sights
aren't centred in an area.  There's this tourist bus
that I've seen pass by all the sights, and it's pretty
frequent, and you can get on/off as much as you like. 
I didn't try it out, but it seems pretty worth it.


MADRID

This city shouldn't be underrated when compared to
Barcelona just 'cuz it doesn't have a beach.  I had
some of my best fun here, checking out the world class
museums and palaces, and a bullfight in between. 
Missed out on Flamenco dancing though.

- The museums here are really good.  The Del Prado
museum's got older stuff, but I did a couple of
interpretations of Las Meninas and Goya's Saturno...
good collection of the newer post impressionist stuff
at the Thyssen B. Museum.
- A lot of good hostels are concentrated around Plaza
Santa Anna, a good area for nightlife, and they're
high quality, with real friendly service.  You can
even bargain down the price in some of them, 'cuz not
many tourists can bear the heat in the summer.
- The heat's kinda bad, it hit 45 Celsius by midday,
but it doesn't feel as bad as Toronto right now 'cuz
it's not humid.
- Pollution's a little bad though.  There's these
boards around the city indicating the percentage of
compounds in the air.
- It costs me less to stay in Madrid than in Toronto
(and everywhere else I've been, for that matter)!  For
$30 Cdn., I got a double room with ensuite shower and
washroom, plus towel service, and a great view.
- On the perimeter of Plaza Mayor, there's these
Calamari sandwich joints which are pretty good.  For
$1.50 Canadian, I got a totally stuffed sandwich.  The
only problem is that they're really dry to eat, so get
a lemon, or like me, I went to the grocery store and
got some tartar sauce. Became my daily lunch.
- I think Paella's overrated.  I've tried it multiple
times, but the rice doesn't really have a good
flavour, or everywhere I've been too skimped on the
seafood, and subsituted with chicken (with feathers
still sticking out! ugh...)
- Try to avoid this station named Bilbao.  It seems to
smell like raw sewage forever.

The bullfight.
Okay, I'm not condoning this type of sport, but it's
so popular that I had to see it.  It's flooded with
locals, and even though there are protests, it seems
like it will never be banished.  It's really popular
in Madrid, and there's a fight every 1-2 days.

- First off, the seats in the Coliseum are just
concrete steps, so my butt was getting totally cooked
before some locals saved me with some newspapers. 
Also ended up wearing a goofy newspaper hat to block
the sun.  Staying out like that made my skin pretty
dark.

- I can't help but root for the bull.  I mean, there's
3 phases, with 10 guys wearing out the bull with
spears, harpoons, etc.  The matador doesn't have to do
much, 'cuz the bull is pretty slow by the time he
comes out.  He just has to play with it some more,
stick a long knife down it's back, and maybe finish it
off with the dagger in the head.

- A bullfight is much like a baseball game, as told to
me by a local.  If the bull isn't running, then
there's no action, and it gets pretty boring.  And all
six fights look pretty much the same. 

But, a bullfight might bring out some interesting
stuff.  Often, the bull does an unpredictable
manouevre and hits the matador. He gets to live if
that happens.  I got to see the bull flip one of the
armoured horses.

Oh yeah, some other hosteller explained to me
something I mentioned earlier.
Recap:  In Paris, a guy on the train walks in, shouts
out a speech like he's got a bomb or something, and
people give him money!
Explanation:  He's saying he just got released from
prison, with nothing, and asks for food, money,
clothing, etc.

Next stop: Amsterdam