Tharagotha

Trip Start Mar 29, 1999
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14
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Trip End Jun 18, 1999


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Flag of Spain  ,
Sunday, April 11, 1999

Good travel luck finally came my way with the #9 bus I needed to the Estacio de Tren arriving just as I approached the bus stop. For some reason the train station is a 20 minute drive out of town and just a big block in the middle of nowhere. Allowing myself plenty of time I ahve somehow arrived at 9.45am for my 12.23pm train and there is absolutely nothing to do here except read the timetables. I am going to try something a bit tricky and get off in Zaragoza instead of Barcelona. It sounds quite nice.

Words like "gracias" are somewhat hard to pronounce. The 'c' is pronounced like a 'th' I believe, somewhere between the 'th' in 'with' and the 'th' in 'though', but I'm never sure and I can't quite pick it when it is said properly.

The train finally turned up but it was pretty packed. I had forgotten to ask for a window seat. Fortunately the conductor came by and everything was in order. For some reason the train would occasionally stop in the middle of nowhere for 15-20 minutes before lurching back into life.

I managed to get off at Zaragoza and just around the corner from the station was a pension called 'Fondo Miramar', recommended in Rough Guide. I liked the name so I gave it a crack. It was run by a woman whose English was worse than my Spanish, so as we agreed on prices and she showed me around we had a humorous but surprisingly fruitful discussion in a form of French (our 'lingua franca', if you like). Although continually hesitant to use it, my Spanish is getting markedly better every time I do use it.

This is probably the first place I have ever been that starts with the letter 'Z'. It is very windy here, almost Wellington-like.

On my traditional new-to-a-place stroll I chanced upon the local bullfights. This amazing experience is detailed elsewhere in this travelogue.
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