Last evening, I had a wonderful chat on Facebook with Lulu from Indonesia. She is an English Teacher. We discuss creating an exchange program for adults so we could visit each others countries. I went on Kayak.com to check the fares. It would costs between $1300 and $1700 RT (roundtrip).

So now I need to find out what are the various inexpensive ways to travel to far out countries would be. But we both liked the idea of traveling to each others countries. Could be a new great adventure.

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Here is a new one I was not familiar with  called  SKYAUCTION.  It allows you to  bid on airfares (kinda like Ebay), hotels, vacations etc.

Kayak is a great website for travel because if incorporates all the popular travel websites like Priceline, Travelosity, Expedia etc. all at one site! Ease of use is the ticket!

It has taken about 2 weeks for me to settle back into the Washington DC routine, I had before leaving on October 14, 2009. As I reflect on my trip, it was a life-altering change for me. One I am most grateful for.

Now my goal is to take another step into the work of back-packing travel. Haven’t the slightess idea on how or what to do -just that I want to do this.

The group that I participated with were 20 Anglos (English-Speaking) and 20 Spaniards. The English speakers came from Australia, Britain, Wales, Canada, South Africa and America. We all bounded well together. The Spaniards, well it was a love feast for me. More on this later.

HOSTELS n.
1. A supervised, inexpensive lodging place for travelers, especially young travelers.
2. An inn; a hotel.
intr.v., -teled, -tel·ing, -tels.
To stay at hostels while traveling.

Oh My Gawd!

What in the hecky-wecky happened today! And how did I become the Hostel Virgin? O.K. let me not get too ahead of myself. Breathe DeeNice…

Here is the story. I had been conversing with a few folks at the English Immersion Program last week after completing my program in Spain – and they shared about their good and inexpensive travel experiences at Hostels for lodging purposes.

One of the main reasons I wanted to blog my first maiden journey traveling abroad…alone…for the first time in my life, is to encourage other folks (especially the ladies) old and young to Go Global – like my mentor Rita Golden Gelman.

So, even though I had a short flight layover in Amsterdam, Holland from 11pm Sunday to 1pm Monday.  I knew I would be tired and needed a place to lay my head, but not for 100 Euros. So I thought, “Well, let me try the hostel scene at Amsterdam Hostels.”   So early that (Sunday) morning I went online to http://www.Hostels.com and found several in the area. Now for those of you new to Hostels, they are basically rooms for travelers that are private or shared. The prices are great; the accommodations are quaint, small, yet functional, and for the most part, clean.

I found this one Hostel Orfeo, Leidsekruisstraat 14, Amsterdam for $24 dollars. They had several accommodation options, but I thought I requested the private room where we shared a bathroom.

I flew into the Schiphol Amsterdam Airport. And BTW, it is a gorgeous airport – glass and brass, and even though I came in at 11pm the eating sites, clubs, etc. were open and active.

I felt less nervous as I cautiously walker through the terminal, because all the airport signs were in English – who knew? I flew in on KLM Airlines; the airline attendants were so cordial and warm. I started to drop my City-Girl (Washington DC Native)  guard and relax a bit into my new adventure.

I had two pieces of luggage, so I decided to allow the airline to keep the one that was going through baggage, and keep my carry-on with me. This way I wouldn’t have to haul two suitcases and my backpack purse. Well this seemed to be working out well so far…yeah…so far, right.

The cab took me 15 miles for 42 Euros – “Got Dag-git” – I could catch a train to Philly,PA from DC for that much money. Remember, the US dollar is .67 cents to one Euro. Now you have to get the picture….It is pitch dark out because we set our clocks back one hour right? And I had never been in Amsterdam so…When the cab driver announced that he would have to posthumously drop me off three blocks from where I needed to be, and that I would have to walk down this very dark, weird,  alley-lookin’ street alone with my bags – it did not go over too well. What the “ham sandwich” is going on?  Guess you can see I am trying NOT to curse. When charged the 42 Euros for the excursion trip, it made me retrieve my “DC City-Gurl” demeanor. And those of you who know me well know that look I get with my “pretty brown eyes” when I ain’t feeling the sit-chi-a-tion (situation).

Gritting my teeth, I thanked him for his help. Grabbed my little beat-up purple suitcase and galloped down the dark cobbled-stoned, brown road. Even Judy Garland wouldn’t try this one.

But, this is why I need to travel more, to get out of the familiar surroundings of my City-Girl-sheltered life in America and be more flexible, open, adventurist. A thought for a quick minute, “hmmm, did I bring my switchblade and nunchucks with me?”  Oh no, they would never pass security. I muddled on.

Looking at the buildings on Leidsekruisstraat Street…42, 40, 38…Well, I must be walking in the right direction; the numbers are going down. A strong aroma of grass (marijuana) came from every direction; it’s legal in Amsterdam. I breathe deeply. A-ha! Found 14 Leidsekruisstraat – Hotel Orfeo. There were two men outside, very nice. I rang the bell and thought, “Thank You Jesus, I made it here, now I can get in my room and go to bed.”

The Hostel Virgin Arises

The front desk guy was nice, took my information and then gave me the key. And here is when things got dicey. He then announced, “You will be sharing a room with three men.” I said, “Excuse me, what did you say???”

He said, “We are full and you will have to share the SAME room with three other men.” What the? – Hell to the NO! All the DC-isms came out of my mouth – “Sir, I will not sleep in the same room with three men I do not know. That is not going to happen.” He said, “But you reserved the room.” “Yes,” I interrupted, “I reserved a room to SHARE A BATHROOM only.” He said, “But we are full.” I said, “Too bad, I will not share a room with three men.” He asked me had I been to a Hostel before, I said no, but when I reserved this on the internet, I specifically did not reserve a mixed room. (At least I don’t think I did)  He finally said, “Well, you can have the private room but it will cost 60 Euros. And you have to pay cash only.” Well I had spent more than planned with the cab so I was short on cash, and they did not take credit cards. So I had to go walk about three blocks at 12 midnight through the narrow brown streets to an ATM – oh Heck this is getting my dander up. All my Christian training (almost) flew right out the window. Thank goodness Amsterdam is extremely safe at night. Probably because everybody is high!

Took 60 Euros back to the front desk guy. And then he said, “I need another 10 Euros for a key deposit.” I looked straight at him and said, “And you tell me this now, after I walked out there and back.”

And then I decided, “Well, maybe a little humor would defuse the sit-chi-a-tion.” So I said, “You know I am a Hostel Virgin.” He laughed…thank goodness. Then he decided to reduce my private room to 40 Euros.

So now we are connecting – now we are gettin’ somewhere. Just let me get to my bed. So he gives me the key to room 17 – and then tells me – it’s on the top floor – four stories up, which I had to walk. At this point, I didn’t care, heck I just finished working in a village in Spain in the mountains, I can handle this, and even if I couldn’t it was time to get settled.

So here I am – the location is good to the area, and the front desk guy recommended I take the train back to the airport; it’s cheaper and easier. Good Advice. The front desk guy also loaned me his power converter so I could recharge my cell phone, so I could set the alarm. I planned to get up early to walk around.

Oh, there were some cool things I noticed while cabbing to the Hostel. Will share them in the morning.

So This is DeeNice,

The Hostel Virgin

signing off.

Boy did I sleep hard last night. Oh and we had to set the clocks back last night. So I got an extra hour sleep.  I have been on high speed for 10 days and this was the first night that I had more than 6 hours sleep. It felt greaat!. Wish I could stay longer in Amsterdam, but the extra 500€ was not a good arrangement. So what I decided to do is plan a trip to Amsterdam in the next 3 months and really do it right.

Today, I will get a bite to eat and then I am looking for a gift for my Mom today. Then I need to leave the Hotel Europa around3-4 to catch my plan to Amsterdam. I did not receive an email from Delta/KLM/Northwest regarding my flight confirmation. So I will double check on line. Just to make sure.

Today, I walked from my hotel Europa down to the famous Prada Museum. The admission is 8 €(euros), and if you arrive the last 2 hours of the day it is free. This is a must see art musuem. Surprising one of myAnglo friends, Tami who work with me last week at Valdelavilla was there at well. When we saw each other we got so happy that the guard has to ask us to bring our voices down. (Those Anglos!!) We went thru the exhibits, reminenced about the immersion program and drank coffe and tea at the Prada Museum cafe.  So cool.

The featured exhibit was Juan Bautista MAINO:

Juan Bautista MAÍNO (1581-1649). A little-known Master

This October the Museo del Prado is presenting the first monographic exhibition on Juan Bautista Maíno, one of the most original but least known figures within Spanish painting of the first half of the 17th century. For the first time the exhibition, sponsored by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado, will bring together almost all the artist’s known works, together with seven previously unknown ones and others by Spanish and Italian painters that will help to set Maíno’s paintings in an international and Spanish context.

After experiencing the Maino exhibit we went to the Goya exhibit. It was hauntingly captivating. Here is a brief background:

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes, consummately a Spanish artist whose multifarious paintings, drawings, and engravings reflected contemporary historical upheavals and influenced important 19th- and 20th-century painters. The series of etchings Los desastres de la guerra (“The Disasters of War”, 1810-14) records the horrors of the Napoleonic invasion. For the bold technique of his paintings, the haunting satire of his etchings, and his belief that the artist’s vision is more important than tradition, Goya is often called “the first of the moderns.” His uncompromising portrayal of his times marks the beginning of 19th-century realism.

He was born in Fuendetodos (Zaragoza), and was apprenticed to Jose Luzan and Francisco Bayeu, whose sister he later married. He went to Italy and upon returning to Spain, he painted frescoes for the local cathedral in Zaragoza, and painted carton (designs) for the royal tapestry factory in Madrid, mostly scenes of everyday life. At the same time, he became established as a portrait painter to the Spanish aristocracy.

He was elected to the Royal Academy of San Fernando in 1780, named painter to the king in 1786, and court painter in 1789 ( was appointed first Spanish court painter in 1799).

A serious illness in 1792 left Goya permanently deaf and he became increasingly occupied with the fantasies and inventions of his imagination and with critical and satirical observations of mankind. He evolved a bold, free new style close to caricature.

In 1824, after the failure of an attempt to restore liberal government, Goya went into voluntary exile in Bordeaux (France), continuing to work until his death there in 1828.

I did give it the ole college try. I made an unsuccessful attempt to change my flight to go to Amsterdam a day earlier. Scott, the Aussie whom I met this past week at the Pueblo Ingles immersion program. Gave me great tips of what to do in Holland. I got sooo excited that I couln´t wait. Then the chore came of making the revisions on my ticket. Oh No Not That!. Well, if you are a newbie and even a veteran – it aint that easy…

It was confusing enough  when Delta, KLM and Northwest were co-mingling together as far as booking flights. But  here is what happened:

• Called KLM yesterday and they told me because my flight was booked on Delta, they could not access my flight. This is even thought Delta, KLM and Northwest all work together. wierd
• KLM gave me 2 flights that leave today and told me to call Delta for the particulars and change
• Front Desk athe hotel I am staying at gave me Delta number in in Madrid. I also went on line and got a direct 404 number. this is because I could not use my intl calling card with a 800 number.
• Call a couple of B&B places in Amsterdam and had them at the ready to book as soon as I got the flight changes.
• Decided I would be willing to pay about $100 to transfer my flight a day but not more than that.
• On phone 3 times today with Delta – they would charge me $250 to change the flight by one day
• Delta would then charge me for the new flight up to $250.
• If they booked me on Iberia,  it would cause my ticket back to the states to cancel.

So, it just was way too much dough. But I had to try and see what the experience would be. A least I can share this with orther travel maidens so they won´t have to go thru the same trouble i had to .

So what now you ask -hittin the streets of Madrid, going to try and go to the Prada Museum today.

Will let you know what happens later.

adios

Have been on the phone last night with KLM/Northwest even though I made my reservsations in the US with Delta, the actual flight from Madrid to Amsterdam tomororw is thru KLM/Northwest. However, since Delta made the reservastion for me, the KLM/Northwest her in Spain could not get into the system to see if I could change my ticket.

I would like to go to Amsterdam a day earlier and stay over night. Otherwise I owuld like a 14 hour layover from 11:30 pm to 1:30 pm the next day. And would be sleeping at the airport. That´s no fun.  I attempted to call Delta last night, but only have a 800 number. Hmmm, can´t use an 800 number on my International Card. So went to sleep, last night and got up this morning and got on the internet for Delta. They have an on line chat line, and the customer service chat person for Delta gave me the following number:  404-765-5000, also the local Spain number 900-808-743. OK now we have something.  I am concerned how much it will cost me to change this ticket. If it is over 100 euros, I probably won´t do it. But then again, you only live once.

It´s 12:09 10/24/09 let´s see what happens. Thank you, Thank you very much! (Richie saying, will explain later)

You can imagine my surprise when I jumped  on the Hotel Europa internet service. And Up pops Google in all Spanish.

Tip:

• When traveling abroad – remember that the keyboards and websites will NOT necessarily be in English. So have a small translation dictionary handy.
• Certain symbols are access differently. As an example, I am at a hotel in Madrid, Spain. The keyboard I am typing on is a Logitech keyboard. Problem occurred when I tried to type the @ sign(which you need when typing your email name etc). It does not work with the shift key and the number 2. On the lower right-hand side of the keyboard there is an ALT key with the letters ¨Gr¨ use this key for the ¨@¨ sign.  On this particular board the ¨/ ¨ mark is on the number key panel. Some keys you will automatically remember. But my brief and new experience is to expect small surprises.

My First meet Up when I arrive in Spain

Last Night we arrived in La Cabecera del Rio Alhama. Our team of 40 are staying in a wonderful village that was restored to full use after many years of it being uninhabilited.

In the 1960´s villagers left this area to more to closer into the working city areas. I will have more pictures coming later of the beautiful landscape.

Sitting at the computer at Village

Our team of Anglos respondsibility for the next 8 days is to speak conversational english to the Spanards. Spanards are the most lovely people I have met in a very long time. It is hard to put into words the gentle spirit and warmth they have given to us. Of the Anglos, (English-speaking) they come from: England, South Africa, Canada, Australia, and the United States: California, Missouri, Ohio, Texas, Washington DC (that´s me), Utah, New York State, and Washington State.

The scenery is gorgeous and the weather is perfect.  We are 1400 meters from the lower lands.  I have been taking a walk with a different Spanard 3 times a day. We talk about everything, they must speak english at all time. I have to say this has been the most rewarding experience of my life.