Now that i have emptied the backpack i have carried, washed the clothes i have worn, and sorted the pictures i have taken, it is time to do a little resumé of the two weeks of travelling some parts of the Mediterranean coasts with Alex. We had agreed on a rough plan of going from the Italian Liguria along the French Côte d’Azur to some parts of northeastern Catalonia. It turned out that we had too little time again. We also drifted a bit from that plan as we risked a small glance into the Provence. So we skipped quite a bit of the original route.

Italy

Our flight went from Berlin to Milan, where we walked around a bit and at first saw very wide streets and dreary buildings. Looking closer we noticed little gardens on roofs. Yet, the streets were strangely empty as if everybody went on vacation — it was the forenoon of a Saturday. In terms of streetart i could actually get quite a few pieces. The grandiosely constructed trainstation was the gate to get on track with our plan, since we didn’t really had considered staying overnight.

In Genoa we stayed in a youth hostel that was situated on the hills and cliffs about 15 minutes away from the city centre by bus. From there it was possible to get quite a good view over the port city that was build in such a hilly region. On the way to the hostel and in the hostel we met two bright Aussies, Alexandra and Elizabeth, with whom we walked around in Genoa and had dinner on the steps looking on one of the many piazzas that are all over the city. Later we even got to do some hackey sacking at the port.

Afterwards we decided to jump ahead and aimed at a quick stay at a beautiful beach at Ventimiglia which lies close to the French border. The 5 km were actually about 10 or more including quite an substantial part going through a tunnel. After arrival we got to an overpriced camping site without grass. So we decided not to stay too long here as well.

We did a day trip to Sanremo where we individually strolled around through an old city center with tiny streets and gangways. It is maybe notworthy that the trainstation has moved to the other side to the town, which we didn’t quite get at first, since our guide was a bit behind. It was a book you know.

France

Pretty soon then we left Italy to enter French territory switching trains in Menton, which is dreamy, innocent, and picturesque town with a church and many small alleys, passages, and steps.

We arrived in Nice and had to walk quite a while to get to the bus stop where we met Mike from Canada, who also seeked shelter in the youth hostel, which was again quite a ways from the city center. In Nice we three walked around this mostly touristy city and talked about Canada, Quebec, politics and eventually played also some hackey sack. It was paradox to see people leaving the beach in an almost panic hurry to escape the water of a warm rainstorm. Nice features a beautiful port where the decadent yachts are parking, while at other parts of the city not much is done for the quality of life of less privileged people — it seems.

After quickly stopping by in Cannes and Toulon we arrived in Hyères from where we directly went to the peninsula of Giens to do some camping again. This time we were very lucky, finding a rather intimate and personal site with better facilities, especially considering the beach. But we were not only lazy, we also did some hiking on the cliffs and walking along the beaches noticing that this peninsula was blessed with sheer beauty. Our stay lasted for 7 days — enough time for me to rest from previous ‘struggles’ and read prose covering forbidden love in Damascus and non-fiction on cooperative and emancipatory technology.

On our way into the Provence we did a short halt in Marseille which is the second largest city in France. It is has some good looking places, yet it seems mostly hectic and dull.

As our voyage was slowly yet surely approaching the end we have left the coast to see Avignon. This French town has quite a long, moving history, as it was the home for 7 popes that had preferred it over Rome for different reasons. Due to this there is quite a lot of ancient structure that could be visited and looked at. Yet i have mostly strolled through the lonely side streets looking for nothing in particular — except maybe streetart.

From Avignon we have undertaken a daytrip to Arles a town that is famous for a great amount of architectural vestiges such as a Roman theatre and an arena. I was astonished how much stencils i have seen. Among them quite a few very good ones.

Spain

To get our plane from Barcelona, we had to skip the Rhône delta and other places. On our way to our last stop we had lunch in Portbou, where it got out of the sudden quite windy and dark. During the train ride to Girona the temperature sank within an hour from 25° to 15° Celsius, as the display in the Spanish train suggested. In Girona we were welcomed by rain, hail, and flooded streets and sidewalks. Once we checked in in the hostel the rain was gone. We met Alejandro from Mexico with whom we walked around in the town and talked about many things. Girona looked very ‘photoresque’, as the small gangways and steps were wet and radiated strong and rich colors. On that night we three went to an Irish pub, where we had apple cider and Guinness. The next day when we were walking on the ancient city wall and the gardens situated along the wall many places looked as if nature would have taken its space back, since many green leaves covered the ground. It evoked an atmosphere as if the city become an abandoned place.

Galleries

Additionally to the galleries covering the places (click the icons), there is one private gallery which is passwort protected (write email or comment). Furthermore there are three concept galleries filled with pictures from different places depicting pets, streetart, and vehicles that grabbed my attention along the Mediterranean coasts (and regions nearby):

Thoughts

Concluding this trip was many things to me. We met pleasant and challenging co-travellers, saw impressive and gorgeous places, and even got some perfect relaxation. So again, it can be said, that travelling expands horizons — in many aspects. I had this little paper notebook with me where i took notes of places and thoughts that came up strolling around, reading or discussing with travel compañeros y compañeras. I will come back to those once i find the time.

Update
Alex has uploaded his pictures now as well, and his travelogue will shortly, too.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005 at 9:47 pm and is filed under update, travels, english, streetart. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Statistcally related posts: Using Flickr and Google Maps for Streetart Travelling some parts of the Mediterranean coasts of Italy, France, and Spain Semanticizing Wikipedia