Easter Antics Part I

As some of you may know, instead of spending the month of April vigorously researching and preparing for the onslaught of essays due upon the return from Easter break, I decided to be a bit more adventurous and travel throughout Europe for the month. Most English students take this time (and by time I mean a whole month off from uni for what's really just an extended weekend for most) to catch up on work and complete assignments due in May. The most amount of time McGill gives you to prepare for final essays and exams is the one day in between your last class and the start of finals. I decided to take the risk, leave any type of work I had in a neat pile on my desk and deal with the consequences of this choice upon return to Nottingham. I'm still waiting on results but either way, my experiences during this month will be much more memorable than any essay I could have written during this time. The following posts are small anecdotes from my European excursion.

Memorable characters:

There are certain people in our lives who we will never forget. Some may now be old childhood memories while others you still see on a day to day basis. Even though I did not actually meet this specific person at a train station in Spain I truly hope his image will be seared in my memory for years to come. After a twelve hour overnight trip from Paris to Barcelona in a questionably inclinable seat I may have been somewhat delirious by the time I reached my changeover stop in Port Bou. Despite this state of mind I know what I saw, and truly wish I was able to snap a picture without looking like a stalker. Picture a man in his late 50's who appeared to be carrying around everything he owned in about 2 or 3 large dufflebags. He wore red converse shoes, paint covered tight trakky bottoms and a racer jacket. Now I know some of you are wondering what the significance of this man might be or why I took any interest in him at all, but combine someone who looks like this...



with a little bit of this...



covered in skin like this...



and you can see my amusement. Basically a character straight out of Total Recall dropped in the North of Spain. All I can say is that I'm sure the person I was sharing a bench with while waiting for the train to arrive thought I was having some sort of seizure as I tried to stifle my laughter. As much as I love traveling alone, it's moments like these that just have to be shared. I hope I have done the description justice, and that this little gem continues to provide some quality entertainment for the fatigued backpacker.