Europe 2005 - Hostels

Staying in hostels made our trip much more affordable and a little more exciting. We were in mostly youth hostels, except when the alleged best European hostal of 2002 accidentally lost our reservation and booked us in what we fondly called an old person's hostel--nicer and more comfortable, but quiet. Well, here are some photos:


London - St. Christopher's Inn
our first hostel was rather nice and better than I was expecting. It seemed pretty safe--we each had a card to unlock the door--but also fun and with people up all night. We had one good roommate and one who wasn't as good, but we spent time with some other people in the hostel as well. The ladder on this bunk bed was better than the others.





Paris - Woodstock
Paris had the dirtiest hostel. A photo of the shower or toilet would have better illustrated this, but I don't think I wanted to spend any extra time in there to take photos. The baguette at breakfast was pretty good. Everyone there seemed a lot older and we didn't really talk to anyone but our first roommate. Also, the top bunks didn't have ladders!





Barcelona - Sea Point
We were very happy to end up at this hostel, which had air conditioning, a bar and restaurant downstairs, a room for just the five of us, and a mostly friendly staff. It was also right on the beach. Ally did have that crazy bed near the ceiling. The interesting thing about this hostel was that it was basically one really big room with separations by thin walls that didn't go up all the way (see second photo, taken standing on the ladder to the top bunk). In other words, you could hear very clearly anything in nearby rooms. See the last photo for a view from a window in the hall.









Madrid - Naranco Hostal
We enjoyed this one because it was almost like a hotel with real beds and nice showers (except a scary one in the hall...). Actually, the showers in our rooms weren't really separated from the rest of the room by any kind of wall or door or anything, but we managed. Leah demonstrates here the comfort of a hallway couch. Below, note the view from our balcony.










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