Spain - finally!

I made it to Spain! yay!

Ethan and I met in the airport with no drama, but finding the car was a pain in the ass because I booked through Travelocity with a company called "Payless" which actually turned out to be Sixt.  It took quite a while to figure out that Payless was Sixt, and I had to talk to pretty much every company at the airport, INCLUDING Sixt, who didn't know that they were also Payless before I got the car.  It all turned out ok though, because I think that they may have screwed up and given us a nicer car than I booked. We ended up with a diesel-hybrid VW Passat, which is the sweetest car I've ever shared or ridden in in Europe. I'm actually not sure that it's a hybrid, because it never runs just on electricity, but if it's in drive and you stop, the engine turns off.  The reason I think it was a mistake is because Sixt emailed me and said they had a computer error and asked for my license plate number.  Oh well, not going back to Madrid to get a cheaper car.  Plus it seems like a really good deal since it's about 340 euros for a full 29 days.  Doesn't that seem extraordinarily cheap?

update: I found the car on the webs. It's not technically a hybrid, but does get great gas mileage.

Anyway, traffic was horrendous because the Spaniards apparently like to do roadwork on Sunday afternoons.  We made it to Lleida, drove around for a while until I saw a sign that said "hotel".  By this time Ethan was driving because my brain had turned off, so we found this building that was by and large completely dark. I bet him 10 bucks that it was closed, and he bet me 10 euros it was open.  Surprise, the door was unlocked, but it was fairly dark and there was definitely no lobby.  And it was super creepy.  However on the way out we noticed this ATM-style machine and Ethan started poking some buttons.  As it turns out, this hotel is completely automated.  It's the weirdest thing.  No wonder Spain has high unemployment.  So we booked a hotel room via a machine, and it spit out a key. Ethan said "well, we could get a really good night's sleep, or we could get hacked to pieces." We took the elevator up, and when you get off of the elevator the hallway is completely dark until you step out, and then lights turn on as you walk down the hallway. So weird.  Fortunately we ended up with a good night's sleep and did not get hacked to pieces. I'm sure that if you are aware of automated hotels, and are used to this sort of thing it's not very weird, but I am not, and it was creepy.

It's a good thing that we did not try to find Margalef in the dark, because many of the roads are not signed. We kept cross referencing our crappy Sixt map which did not have the necessary details, Ethan's iphone which had the google maps directions, and my laptop which had a map that also did not have enough detail. By some sort of miracle we found Margalef and were climbing at the Finestra by the afternoon.

Since we have no camping supplies to speak of, we're staying at the Refugi, which is kind of ok.  I like it, but we have to share the actual sleeping room with other people. There's a nice place to hang out though, and they have wireless, which is sweet since I have a lot of work to do.  Here are a few photos I've taken so far (none very impressive, and they are mostly of birds and stuff. Sorry about that, but if you are reading this you are used to it by now.)

The climbing is tweaky sharp pockets, and I definitely need to warm up to it a little more. I did find a good tufa-y 7b+ to try (Montgronyeta), and I think I'll do it pretty quick (hopefully). Ethan is still shopping around for a project, though he did try some hard shit on the steep wall at the Finestra.  It looks heinous.

Today we are going to Lleida to get groceries, petrol and a stove. Fortunately when we arrived at the refugi, some folks were leaving and they gave us all their food.  Unfortunately, 3 more people have moved in, all Spanish, and Spanish people are fucking loud. This one chick said "aiii" about like, two dozen times when she woke up this morning between yawns and coughs.  Hmm.  That's all part of traveling though. We may get a cheap tent and camp out, but who knows at this point. It's super nice to be warm and dry at night, and have readily available showers as well.

I swear I had more to write about, but I've forgotten. I'll update regularly I'm sure. For a completely different take on the trip, check out Ethan's blog.