Spain

I didn´t really expected southern Spain to be that hot. 40 degrees
Celsius, blue skies every day, a light breeze from the ocean.
The beach is not too crowded since Almeria is not exactly a tourist
town. A lot of locals and a few students.
It is Ferria time in Almeria and there is a huge fun fair which is
open 24/7, a lot of outdoor discos, drinking in the streets and
partying all day long.
The Ferria is a one week celebration which is happening in almost
every spanish city spread over spring, summer and fall so that you
could actually travel from Ferria to Ferria and get legally shit-
faced in every spanish town. The fun fair and the disco tents are for
the Ferria de la noche and the streets with the bars and clubs in the
city center which are closed during the day so that people can drink
and eat tapas everywhere are called Ferria del medio dia.
Between drunk teenagers who have their first ice cold red wine mixed
with sprite around 2 in the afternoon when people stop working, shops
close and siesta starts, woman and little girls are dressed up in
colourful flamenco dresses which are new every year never to wear the
same dress 2 years in a row and little boys dressed up as bull fighters.
The outdoor bars usually have a fine fabric stretched out between
houses to block the sun and a sprinkler system along with a bunch of
strong fans installed so you always have a cooling moist wind while
nipping on your drinks and nibble on your tapa. After a few tintos
and/or beer plus tapas which vary from a tiny piece of meat on white
bread to whole schnitzels and fries depending on the place you go to,
the party continues in a "real" bar or dance club who have the shades
down to simulate night, incredibly loud music pumping out of the
speakers and an air con that cools the place down to 20 degrees. And
if you thought germans can drink a lot you should go to Spain and try
to drink along a spanish dude during Ferria and I bet you will go
down after the first few drinks in the heat of the midday sun.
In the bar people keep drinking beer or calimocho - a wine and cola
mix or or a rum cola from 1 liter plastic cups. Usually those drinks
are passed around in a group which always puts a little pressure on
you and so you end up drinking more and faster than you normally
would. People leave those places when it is still day light to go
back to one of the tapas bars to refill on food and more drinks until
they finally take a short break and relax at the beach around the
time when the sun goes down and the shops open up again before
hitting the Ferria de la noche, riding roller coasters, driving
bumper cars, eating gigantic baked potatos, drink more alcohol and
finish the night in one of the many party tents.
I did the complete tour ones and ended up on a bench in the middle of
the Rambla (main street) at 6 in the morning until a security guard
woke me up and send me home. I could hardly remember my name the next
day but I woke up in a bed which seemed to be mine and I didn´t leave
it for the next 24 hours.
I like Spain. The atmosphere is great and relaxed, people are
friendly and seemed to have understood what is important in life:
family, friends and not working like crazy to buy fancy cars you don
´t really need or huge houses or center park vacation which you also
don´t need when you have a beach and the ocean just outside your door.