Almeria

I'm sitting on my bed of the Hotel La Perla, deep in the heart of Almeria. Sarah has crashed early. Her notorious bug bites are acting up again and dealing with them is tiring business. There are Spaniards screaming at each other outside our window, but I cant tell if they're arguing or if they're just drunk. Maybe it's both.

I'll admit, I've been into the wine myself, so my love for Spain may be biased. It may be even more biased when I consider that each bottle cost me less than 2 euros. They pretty much give wine away here, which is dangerous for those of us who are used to paying a full hour's work for one decent bottle. How are we supposed to take responsibility for ourselves when such options for irresponsibility are so readily available? Life here is so great that it's not fair for those of us who aren't used to it. The whole thing is just plain dangerous.

But honestly, we've behaved considering our options. In one month, I've only dealt with one hangover. We're generally daytime troopers, using up most of our energy seeing as many sights as possible. By the time evening hits, we're usually too tired to get ourselves into trouble.

We have a tv in our room here, which is always nice. It's tiny, as all European televisions seem to be, but that's ok. I was expecting no frills down here, yet their cable is surprisingly digital. There's no Wifi in the rooms, but lobby Wifi is available, and that's fine with me. Especially when you consider this is our cheapest night yet, and we're not in a crowded hostel bunk room listening to a symphony of snoring. Nope, this is a real hotel, and it comes at the same price as two Big Mac meals back home.

The bus ride here was very cool. Our route weaved in and out of mountainous regions, and we passed by the ruins of many abandoned stone lodgings. Rural areas here are so different from anything we've seen so far on this journey. Instead of perfectly quaint little picturesque towns, we're seeing houses with no electricity and their roofs caved in. It's quite a contrast to what we're used to.

Tomorrow, we'll explore the town a bit with a little beach time once things close for siesta. I'm looking forward to chance to improve on my previously-mentioned farmer's tan, but 'bronzing' may be out of my reach. We'll see.