Well, not quite that bad!

I have no internet access at home and Bristol (Britain's 8th or 9th largest city) has ONE internet cafe!!!!

Long and short of it is I am not getting much chance to read and reply to emails. So please forgive if you have not heard from me in a while (what's changed!)

I've been taking the first few weeks easy, half keeping an eye out for work, but start huntin for jobs proper-like next week.

I have managed to catch up with most the family on my second day back in the country as it was my nans 70th birthday party (she will kill me for putting that on the net!). And I am halfway through the cider induced friends reunions.

Trips to Scotland and London look very likely over the next few weeks.

If you don't have my email details, leave yours in the Guest Book (shortcut on the right) and I'll contact you shortly, otherwise, drop me a line, especially if you are still away so I can relive my travel days through you.

I'm home!
 
Last night was my first night in Bristol. I have a pile of post the size of Ben Nevis to get through and a million things to sort out! (Like get a job!!!)
 
My last few days in Barcelona were very good. Nice blue skies and temps between 27c and 37c.
On my last day, in the last city in the last country of my trip, I went to see Salvador Dali's home town and look around his gallery. Dali is mjy fav painter, so it was almost a pilgrimage!
 
So, now it's back to reality. I'm already bored and starting to wonder where I can wander next!
 
I already have a mobile (magic of internet shopping, it was waiting for me when I got home) So send me and email and I' send you my number.

I love train rides. The almost silent and spookily smooth train whizzed past the beautiful Spanish countryside. It took five hours to get from Madrid to Barcelona, but it didn't seem that long at all. The hostel is, perhaps, the worst in the world, deffo worst than any I have stayed in over the last five months. The 12 bed dorm is actually a 24 bed dorm, but because they have a two metre dividing wall (with a metre gap at the top) down the middle of the room, they class it as two rooms.
There are no pillows or sheets, you have to supply your own, or pay €6 (£4ish) to hire. No maps, no information, nothing but a thin bit of foam on ricketyty wire frame bunkbed, with 24 other people. Lovely.
Oh Well, Only Three More Sleeps!!!

Just Five More Sleeps
I had a safe, long and uneventful flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid.
I got to the airport in BsAs extra early because I was claiming tax back (these things can take a LONG time). I checked in, and because I was so early I got a great window seat that wasn't obstructed by the wing.
Trouble was they also gave the same seat away to someone else (we both had the same boarding pass). Some how they decided mine was the erroneous seat and sat me way, way, WAY back, on the aisle, with a broken seat, and a fair mix of annoying passengers.
ho-hum, I'm here now!
The train from Madrid to Barcelona cost me twice as much as my flight from Barcelona to Bristol.

Almost ready... been doing a little tax free shopping, packing, emailing and general 'travel stuff'. Quite a boring day compared with some days in South America.

I arrived in Buenos Aires in February.
Took a flight to Ushuaia, the most southern city in the world.
Took a ship to Antarctica.
Took a bus to Torres Del Paine in Chile
Back in to Argentina for Spanish lessons in Baralochie.
Learnt nothing
To Mendoza for more lessons and lots of fun with the American girls
Then to Chile, Santiago and San Pedro De Atacama
Into Bolivia and climed to over half the hight of Everest
Suffered altitude sickness
Awed by the Salar del Uyuini
Potosi, Sucre and a few more Spanish lessions
Learnt nothing
In to the mighty Amazon Rain Forest.
La Paz and our bus is stoned and held up by masked men in the middle of the night
Lake Titicaca another border crossing, another bus stoning
Peru, Nazca Lines, The Inca Trail and Lima
Ecuador, and the stunning Galapagos Islands
Back to Argentina and Iguazu Falls
Back to tonight, back to my hostel, back to Buenos Aires and tomorrow
Back to the airport and back to Europe.

Before the whole South American thing happened I had ten days in Thailand, four months in Australia and 13 months in New Zealand.

I have met some fantastic people and I have made some new, very close friends.
I'm not too sure what I have done to deserve such luck to experience such a trip.

I have visited all seven continents on Earth and now I am really looking forward to going home.

Fantastic and utterly beautiful. The falls are stunning. Its actually a collection of 120+ falls. Because they are not the biggest or the tallest or the biggest volume falls in the world, they seem to be almost unknown.
They are certainly worth the visit and a great way to end my trip in South America.
I fly to Buenos Aires tomorrow and then stay for one day (the 8th).
On the 9th July I fly to Spain.
Only 8 more sleeps

12:00 Argentina - Boarded bus (40mins, 80p)
12:40 Brazil - Get off bus and start walking across HUGE bridge to Paraguay
13:10 Paraguay - Arrive Paraguay, look around Tax Free shops
15:30 Paraguay - Leave Paraguay, walk back over bridge
16:20 Brazil - Board bus for Argentina
17:00 Argentina - Arrive 'home' and head for restaurant that serves the biggest steak I have EVER seen.

Please Note: The International Rules for a 'True Visit' to a country must be followed for the visit to count. You must have at least one true statement from each of the sections:
Section A:
i) Traveller must clear customs, immigration and leave the airport AND not just visit the airport hotel.
OR
ii) Traveller must leave bus/coach/train, clear customs and immigration and leave the station
Section B:
i) Traveller must sleep one night in the country (not in Airport, on bus/coach or Train whilst in transit, and must be outside of airport or station area).
OR
ii) Traveller must have a dump in the country (not in Airport, on bus/coach or Train whilst in transit, and must be outside of airport or station area).

Using the above criteria I did visit Argentina and Paraguay, but did not fill the criteria for section B for Brazil. So in my list of countries visited Brazil does not count.

12 more sleeps before hometime

I have booked a flight for Sunday going to Iguacu Falls. The people I have met, who have been, absolutely rave about them. The are a collection of falls rather than one big one, so don't get into the record books like Victoria Falls or Niagara Falls, but apparently, on a scale of beauty and awe, they are right there at the top.

I think it's going to be a great end to my trip (of course I still have a few days in Madrid and Barcelona, but they are more like 'half-way-houses' for getting home)

OUTRAGEOUS...
Can you believe that in Buenos Aires Cadburrys produce a nut chocolate bar and a raisin (fruit) chocolate bar, but NOT a fruit and nut chocolate bar. I have been forced to buy and eat both at the same time!
UNBELIEVABLE...
In Buenos Aires it is cheaper to by a litre of wine than it is to buy a litre of milk, My cornflakes taste wonderful.