Joshua Zamrycki's Weblog

Only three days after Jennifer left for the States, my second summer guest flew in. Meg, another friend from Binghamton and former sweetheart, took three whole weeks off of work to take in the culture and the beauty that is Spain. She arrived just as I was going crazy getting ready for an audition I had for Rent. Yes, Rent is coming to Spain next year and I went to the auditions. As many of you know (some better than others) I can dance fairly well, but my singing voice resembles that of an intoxicated 13 year old going through puberty. They wanted me to prepare two songs (one ballad and one rock’n'roll) and bring a headshot so I bought a Beatles backup tape, practiced Yesterday and Twist and Shout until both Meg and myself agreed I should be put to sleep, and went to the nearest metro station to get a few pictures taken from those little tourist booths. After my audition was over, the casting director said, “Thank you” but I think it was for me leaving and not coming. Oh well. This is a paragraph about Meg. Highlights? We explored Montserrat (Catalunya’s most famous and religiously significant mountain), went to the Barcelona Aquarium and saw weird fishes, went horseback riding (my first time), saw Something About Mary in Spanish (Algo Pasa Con Mary), and went swimming in the Olympic swimming pool at night (and in the rain). But the absolute highlight of those three weeks (at least for me) was our little adventure up to Figueres and Cadaqués near the Spain-France border. The plan was to go camping near the beaches in Cadaqués and then go inland to the Dalí museum in Figueres. Well, we arrived in Cadaqués and just started walking. The countryside was amazing with its rocky beaches, crystal clear waters, quaint fishing ports, and jagged cliffs along the Mediterranean Sea. I’m pretty sure we started along some sort of trail, but I made sure to veer as soon as the opportunity arose. We found this little path leading off in who knows what direction so we took it. I wanted to explore. We eventually found ourselves on the side of a beautiful cliff following a narrow and not always safe path. It started getting dark so, when we finally hit a dead end, we decided to set up camp right then and there along the cliff. I don’t think Meg was very happy about that (sorry Meg). Me, I loved it! Sure, the ground was hard and bumpy, the mosquitoes fierce, and night noises abundant, but we were far from the noises of civilization and that, along with the quick consumption of an entire bottle of Cava (Catalunyan champagne), helped me to fall asleep even with that damn rock sticking into my lower back. The next day was the Dalí museum and I know Meg and I both enjoyed that. I’m sure she had a great time during her stay, but I don’t know if she’ll be coming back any time soon.