Beachin' It

This one turned into a bit of a novel but here goes...

Making our way to the beach brought us through the Wine Control Board of Bordeaux, where we were forced to stay a night and sample some of their finest €1.00 - €2.00 bottles of wine.
One night was enough in Bordeaux to have some wine, see some sites, smoke some shisha using water from the fountain in the main square, and get pick-pocketed, F@%K!!!

We came across a little shisha joint and figured it wouldn't hurt to have a quick sit down and relax with a waterpipe. Inside, the only other people there were two local girls.  We chatted with them for a while and after our shisha they invited us to join them down by the river where they were meeting some friends who had their own waterpipe, and as we had several bottles of wine it looked as though it would be a good trade off. They weren't incredibly happy with our wine choices but it didn't really matter in the end because most of them turned out to be Moroccan, and with Ramadan around the corner they were on a body cleanse which didn't allow for alcohol. More for us I guess. Regardless, the night was very relaxed and it was nice to meet some locals to hang out with rather than the standard traveler.

The next morning we hopped on the tram to the train station, and at one of the stops a man, standing behind chris leaned over, asked a meaningless question which caught his attention, then slipped through the door just as it closed, wallet in hand. The thing with trams is that once the door closes there is nothing you can do to open it until the next stop, and by that time buddy will be looong gone. Pickpocketer 1, Chris 0. Luckily he had prepped his wallet for such things and had most of his cards and backup Visa in his bag.

Arcachon is a small French resort town right on the Atlantic coast where french families go to 'camp'. They arrive through the gates, continue past the pool, bar, restaurant, store, mini golf, and tennis court on route to their designated spot where they set up their Cirque Du Soleil sized tents, complete with fridge, electric cookers, lights *insert Canadian Tire commercial here* and as many Simoniz products Canadian Tire could throw at them. A little different from home to say the least!
Unfortunately we only came half prepared and since we didn't have a tent we set up shop on the ground in a back corner. Luckily we were camped at the base of the largest sand dune in Europe so the ground was actually quite comfy.

The long haul to the top

The sand dune is massive, we climbed the steep backside from the campsite and were rewarded with a spectacular view over the Atlantic and down the beach into the bay. We spent two nights there mostly on the dunes and at the beach below. Unfortunately this was where we lost one of the wolf pack as Traz had to get back to Rome for work.

Erdy was going for the head...but that left him in a very vulnerable position

Evening sunset over the Atlantic

And then there were two, again. Chris and I made our way down to Biarritz, a small surf town near the Spanish border hoping to find some good surf. We did. Except the waves had their way with us for most of the day, the surf was just too big to get through with a big foam board. Every time we tried, we'd exhaust ourselves from paddling, look back and realize we were in knee deep water where we started. By the end of the day we finally found a good spot and started catching some waves only to notice so were all the 6 year olds in surf camp...pride was swallowed and we kept going. I think I'm better at looking like a surfer than actually being one.  That's gotta count for something tho.
Biarritz was a nice town but nothing spectacular in my mind, it is however significant because that was where I confirmed all the talk and booked the first two legs of my trip home, the long way.
August 2nd, Rome to Istanbul, Turkey
August 27th, Istanbul to Kathmandu, Nepal

San Sebastian, Spain was the next stop, and what a good choice it was! We arrived not knowing what to expect and we were greeted with a beautiful old town on a big white sand beach and the opening day of a 5 day Jazz festival. We found ourselves a hostel with Britt (US) who we had met on the bus and settled in for two nights that quickly turned into six. If you're ever in Spain you must go to San Sebastian, the town and beach are beautiful, the tapas are the best in the world, the night life is great, Martina has the greatest bakery/pastry shop around and you can eat for €4.00/day.  What more could you ask for??  (€4.00/day is subject to several terms and conditions but delicious none the less).
Our days were spent at the beach playing with our newly acquired beach game. I don't think it really has a name so we dubbed it 'Tuc' because that's the sound when the ball hits the racket. And it is essential for a day at the beach (Chris will demonstrate upon his return)

Our evenings were pretty standard, and consisted of drinking on the hostel's roof top deck then heading to the jazz fest on the beach with anyone else from the hostel. Dunno what it is, but listening to live music, standing in the sand and with waves crashing beside really gives you a sense of no worries!

Green Stage, San Sebastian Jazz Fest 2010

Chris and I had a night bus to catch to Madrid then connecting flight to Rome and Britt was heading into France so we said our goodbyes and were on the move again.

Rome was just how we left it and so was the party atmosphere, it didn't take long to reenter the nocturnal lifestyle, sleeping most of the day and partying all night. This was also the time that I entered the wonderful roman community of promotion. Mood was a pretty awful club that Dave (Wales) worked for but that gave us three -there were ways around that so probably closer to ten- free drinks all night and some money depending on how many people you bring in. It's also the only close place that's open after Piazza Campo de Fiori closes so it tends to get going later on. Not a bad way to spend a week in Rome, considering I came out having basically not spent a dime.
Unfortunately it all had to come to an end, apparently some people are looking to enter the real world, like grad school...losers. I had a flight to Istanbul on august 2nd and that is where the bulk of my travels began.
Thanks Erdy, Euro Trip 2010 was beyond amazing, good luck with school bro.
And then there was one.