Adiós España

When they told us the night before that we would be leaving the apartment at 4am I thought that was an approximate time. It wasn’t. They woke us up at 3:50 and I had ten minutes to pack my backpack, brush my teeth and look half way presentable. On the way out we left them our bouquet of flowers in the vase we got and our thank you cards. We then all piled into the tiny car for the last time and drove to the airport. Our check-in line was the only line in the airport and there wasn’t anyone manning the desk. The lights in the airport weren’t even turned on yet, that’s how early in the morning it was. Once we checked in we took our last selfie together before we went through security and waved goodbye. The first flight was short and we got to see the sunrise and sleep. When we got to Madrid we had to go through passport control.
The guy didn’t even look at my passport or talk to me at all he just stamped a random page and moved on to the next person. I thought that was strange. Maria and I ate our last breakfast in Spain at the Madrid airport. I didn’t get to have my favorite breakfast but I did get a chocolate croissant so that almost made up for it. We had another 3 hours to wait for our flight so I slept sitting upright in a metal chair until Maria woke me up. This flight was the big flight and Maria and I couldn’t sit together. I had a window seat next to someone who only spoke Spanish. For the 9 hour and 41 minute flight I slept, watched 007, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Martian, played Sudoku, and ate the nasty plane food. I was very excited when they said that we would be beginning our decent. Passport control in America was as much of a joke as it was in Spain. I pretty much ran the conversation and he told me he was tired. He seemed extremely out of it and didn’t scan my passport or ask me many questions. Maria on the other hand got grilled because she is a dual citizen. We finally made it to the carousel to get our bags and Maria’s took so long that we both thought it wasn’t coming. My dad and grandparents were waiting for us and we all piled into the car and drove to Boca. After a quick pit stop to drop off my grandparents we drove the remaining five hours home. It took us 26 hours to get from Malaga to Gainesville. I have now recounted our entire trip to Spain and back. Now Maria and I are trying to adjust to the time difference and battle off whatever we caught on the plane. 

Below are the pictures from our last day in Spain. 



My new BFF



Mayan Monkey Mijas


1 of 3 ice creams


Wine at Picasso's favorite place


Noria Mirador Princess Ferris Wheel

Donkeys and the Chocolate Factory

Today is our last day here in Spain so we spent the morning organizing everything so that it would be easier to pack later. After we organized we had brunch. Bruch is normally one meal you have between breakfast and lunch time that serves as both meals. This brunch was breakfast and lunch. We had my favorite breakfast with the yogurt as well as bread, cheese, and lots of meat with vegetable sauce. It was two meals at one time and I felt like I needed to get my elastic pants out.

After brunch Alonso drove us to the small town of Mijas where we got to see donkeys! I was very excited about the donkeys and I took selfies with a lot of them. Most of the donkeys look the same but I didn’t want any of them to feel left out to I tried to pet and take selfies with a lot of them. They were all dressed up and looked super cute! The best part was that for 10 euros we could ride a donkey all around the town. I loved riding my donkey and whether he knows it or not we are now BFFs. I think our donkeys were in the witness protection program because the guide wouldn’t tell us their names. Maria asked him if they had names and he said yes but didn’t tell us what they were. It’s ok the donkeys secrete is safe with me. The guide led my donkey first and Maria’s just followed. Every time the guide would let go of my donkey he would walk faster and veer off into fences. That just made me love him more. I could have hung out with the donkeys all day but it was time to explore the town.

The first place we stopped was a chocolate store. This ended up being one of the coolest things we saw this entire trip. The store was called Mayan Monkey Mijas (http://www.mayanmonkey.es/) and is home to the world’s smallest chocolate factory. For no charge at all one of the factory managers gives you a tour of the factory and tells you all about how the chocolate is made and where it comes from. It was all very exciting. Everyone in the shop was extremely nice and he even gave us the tour in English so I knew what was going on. We also got to try samples that were amazing. Since the chocolate was so good and it was made in Mijas we bought a lot of it. We continued walking around the tiny town and came across another Mayan Monkey Mijas so this time we got some homemade ice cream that was also very delicious. They stick a large piece of chocolate in the top of the ice cream for free! The lady who served us was British which just made everything that much better.

Once we left the beautiful tiny town of Mijas we picked up Clara from work and went out to eat. They ordered us wine and soda again. This time there was more soda than wine and it was way too fizzy for me. For lunch we had tapas. They just kept bringing them out and Alonso kept saying that we needed to try them because they were so good. Each tapa has a tooth pick in it and they have different sizes and colors of toothpicks for different foods. This is how the waiter rings up the bill at the end. When we were done we had 30 toothpicks. By this point I definitely needed some elastic pants. I thought I couldn’t be any fuller than I already was. I was wrong. Clara wanted to take us to the best ice cream shop in town. They are always treating us and making sure we are well fed. After our second ice cream of the day and 30 tapas between the four of us I was sure that we would not be eating or drinking anything for quite some time. I was wrong again. They took us to a popular place to get good wine in Malaga. It was a tiny bar and all of the wines were in big barrels. All of the bartenders were old men and they write your bill on the table with chalk. Picasso used to go there a lot. We had some entertainment while we drank our wine because there was a bachelor party going on. Their theme was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The groom was dressed as Snow White in a wig and a dress and the seven grooms men were the dwarfs. They were all drinking, singing and dancing and it was really funny to watch.

Our next great adventure was the Ferris Wheel. The Ferris Wheel was one of the first things we saw when we arrived in Malaga and we have been talking about going on it at sunset all week. Today we finally got the chance. It is the largest Ferris Wheel in Spain and it is right on the coast so when you are at the top you can see all of Malaga on one side and the Mediterranean Sea on the other. It was very beautiful and we took lots of pictures. We also had a Taylor Swift dance party in our little cart. Even though it is completely enclosed so nobody could hear us we got some strange looks from the people in the cart in front of us. Alonso and Clara were waiting for us at a restaurant but we wanted to get them flowers and a vase as a thank you so we ran all over down town looking for flowers and a vase. We didn’t want to keep them waiting forever but we didn’t know where anything was so we ended up taking over an hour to get back to them. I hid the flowers in my jacket and I looked crazy because it looked like I was carrying one of the large ham legs they have everywhere in my jacket. We finally got back to them and they ordered us a brownie and ice cream dessert. That was out third ice cream of the day. We took a few pictures on the pier to document our last night out together and then we went home to pack.

That brings us to now and I am blogging on my bed and looking out the window at a beautiful view of the city all lit up. I can’t believe that this was our last day here. In some ways it feels like we have been here forever and it others if feels like we just got here. It rained tonight for the first time since we got here and Clara said it was the city crying because it was sad that we are leaving. Clara and Alonso have been amazing hosts and it will be sad to leave them. The wifi is not working well tonight so I can’t add any pictures to this post. I also can’t contact my parents. I’m not ignoring you mom my messages just won’t go through. You can see a donkey picture on my Instagram (@emmats13). I will post todays pictures when I write my last blog post tomorrow night. It is 2am here and we are supposed to be leaving in two hours for the airport so I am going to try to get some sleep now. Next time I blog I will be in the United States… if customs lets me in. :)

Lost in Seville

Today we took a bus to the train station and a train to Seville, Spain. Seville is the 4th largest city in Spain and is a very popular tourist destination. It has always been and still is one of the most important cities in Spain. It took us three hours by train to get there from Malaga and Maria and I slept for most of the trip. Alonso said that the train station was right next to everything in town so we weren’t worried about finding everything. Nothing was close to the train station and we were completely lost for an hour. We finally found a courtyard area with a lion monument. We decided we were where we needed to be because we saw other tourists.

Our American Friends

La Giralda

While we were trying to figure out what to do we heard a group of a couple adult tourists speaking English and they were obviously American, so naturally we followed them. When I say we followed them I mean like we really creepily followed closely behind them down side streets and into stores. We decided they knew where they were going so we made them our unofficial tour guides without them even knowing. It was a good decision because they ended up leading us right to La Giralda which is where all the tourists go.  It is a bell tower that is connected to the Seville Cathedral. Both are huge and beautiful. There is also a courtyard in front with a beautiful fountain. After taking pictures here we lost our American friends so we were on our own again. We ended up finding the Bull Fighting Arena but we were looking for gardens…

Torre del Oro

We took a pit stop from being lost and did some shopping. We have no idea how everything we have bought is going to fit in our luggage. The guy at the store was very helpful and gave us directions on how to find the gardens. On our way we ended up seeing the Torre del Oro or Tower of Gold. It is located right on the river but for some reason the river was blocked off so we couldn’t see it. Over the years the tower has been used as a watch tower and as a prison on separate occasions. It is called the Golden Tower because it shines gold on the river because it was constructed using mortar, lime, and pressed hay.

 

After the tower we finally found what we were looking for, the Maria Luisa Park. For those of you who don’t know, Maria’s sisters name is Luisa so this was pretty cool. The park used to be the gardens of the Palace of San Telmo and they were donated to the city in 1893. The park has many monuments and ponds but we were running out of time because we had to catch our train so we had to move on to our next stop, The Plaza de Espana. This was incredibly beautiful. It is a huge half-circle building and in the center is the Vicente Traver fountain. By the walls of the plaza are many tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain. There were so many beautiful tiles and the entire plaza was breathtaking. We have seen many amazing things on this trip but this was by far one of my favorites and I could have stood their staring at it all day. Unfortunately we had a train to catch in 40 minutes and we had no idea where the train station was.

We were so lost and we were running around looking for signs. Eventually we stopped and asked a police officer. He gave us directions and told us that it would take us about 30 minutes walking to get there. We didn’t have 30 minutes so we took off running. We decided to pretend that we were in the Amazing Race so we felt less like crazy tourists. In total we ended up asking six different people for directions today. Spaniards aren’t that great at giving directions. They either don’t want to help or they point in a general direction and act like they have been extremely helpful. We arrived at the train station sweaty and out of breath with 5 minutes to spare. The train ended up being late anyways so we had some extra time. We had a screaming baby on our train and a tiny dog. It was quite an experience. Once we got back to Malaga Clara and Alonso were waiting for us to take us to dinner.

Tonight we went to a place called Chopp where they give you tapas (like appetizers) with every drink you order. They ordered Maria and I soda and wine mixed. It was ok but I don’t like soda. We got so many plates of food it was crazy. We had fried chicken, breaded cheese sticks, eggplant with molasses, and other things that I can’t remember. My stomach isn’t big enough for Spain! It was all delicious and I paid for everyone.

Two things made me laugh very hard today and I am going to share them with you. The first happened at the train station. Right after we met up with Alonso and Clara we heard very loud hooting and hollering from a group of boys. I turned around to see a group of about 7 boys rushing towards a guy who had just come out of the train station. The best part is that they were all wearing masks that had the guys face on it and they all rushed at him and gave him a hug. I thought it was really sweet and funny. The second funny thing occurred while we were walking from the car to dinner. We passed buy a really old car and Maria stopped to look at it. When she turned around she ran directly into a metal pole and it made such a loud noise. After making sure she was ok we all laughed so hard about it. I continued to laugh all night and I am laughing now as I type it. I felt bad for her but it was so funny that she ran into the pole. I will be checking her for concussion symptoms…

Now for a quick update on the trash strike. The workers are on strike because they want more vacation days every year. Apparently they already get a lot so asking for more is ridiculous. They don’t think so. What I think is ridiculous is the amount of trash in the street. For years it has been that if someone is a sanitation worker than their children can become one too. The government wants to change this but the workers want it to stay the same, so that is another reason for the strike. I think while everyone is figuring it out someone should pick up the trash.

One last note that I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post. Hawaiian pizza is called Ecuador pizza here. We thought that was pretty funny.

Tomorrow is our last day! :(

Home Is Where the Waves Are

We started toady off with my favorite breakfast. If any of you are trying this breakfast out at home I strongly suggest that you skip the step where you pour the yogurt by stabbing the bottom of the cup. I stabbed myself today. Don’t worry, I’m ok mom. Maria and I were on our own to explore Malaga again today. After our very long day yesterday we were ready for a chill day to do some shopping and exploring.

Centro Histórico De Malaga

We first went walking downtown on the rich street with all of the fancy stores. At the beginning of the trip we had a lot of self-control with making purchases… now that the trip is coming to a close we pretty much don’t have any self-control when it comes to spending. It is very easy to say that we might never be able to buy it again and that we will regret it, so we buy everything. Going down the expensive street probably wasn’t the best idea but it was really pretty and we didn’t spend too much. Maria did by two coffees…. Maria is Colombian so she speaks Spanish a little differently than the Spaniards and even though I can’t understand either one of them it is funny to watch them talk to each other because Maria doesn’t always know what they are saying and Maria says things they don’t get. Apparently in Colombia when you order food you ask for it as a gift. She doesn’t actually want it for free that’s just the way Colombians say it. This is not the same in Spain, so every time she orders they look at her like she is crazy and their eyes get big. It’s funny to watch and then she has to explain herself.

Mercado Central Atarazanas

We finally found our way to the market where we got Alonso and Clara some peppers and apples since we had eaten all the ones they had the day before. The market was a really cool place and was full of all sorts of fresh food. They also had a lot of spices that drove my allergies crazy. After seeing (and smelling) lots of fish and meats we decided we had had enough.

Arabesque

Our next stop was out favorite store, Arabesque. It has a gypsy Arabian feel to it and they have a lot of really cool clothing, jewelry, and handbags. This was our third time going to this store because we love it so much. Today I got the earrings I have been thinking about all week. We also took a picture because we probably won’t be going back. I ended up going through most of my Euros today and we still need to pay Alonso back for the tour tickets he bought yesterday so I found an ATM to get some cash out. I have used an ATM machine abroad twice before. The first time in Germany it took my card and I couldn’t get any money and the second time in Ireland it worked perfectly so I was a little worried to put my card in the machine. The first time I put it in everything was working perfectly until it got to the amount that I wanted to take out. I think the machine was broken because where I was supposed

to type it was already filled out with a string of 4’s and it wouldn’t let me change it. After canceling the transaction and getting my card I was really scared to put it back in and try again but Maria convinced me to. It did the same thing the second time so we went inside the bank to see if we could talk to someone but the line was super long and someone told us that the machine had taken her card. We ended up going to another bank and that one worked on the first try but it still took a while and Maria and I both thought it wasn’t going to give me the card back. It was terrifying but it all worked out. Since things were going well I bought a chocolate pretzel pastry to eat on our way to the beach. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting but it was yummy.

Once we got to the beach we changed into our awesome gypsy pants so we could have a Mediterranean gypsy photo shoot. We looked absolutely crazy in our gypsy pants, sneakers, backpacks, and shirts that didn’t match but we didn’t care. The beach is so beautiful and there is one part that has a strip of rocks in the water so we went there to take all of our crazy pictures. After spending about an hour and a half taking pictures and enjoying the sound of the waves on the rocks it was time to head back to the apartment for lunch. We didn’t have time to change back into our jeans so we had to walk home looking crazy. The walk was about thirty minutes and we stopped multiple times to take more cool pants pictures. We are obsessed with the pants if you couldn’t tell. Right now all the garbage pickup workers are on strike so dumpsters are overflowing and tons of trash is piled up around it and it is really gross. While passing one of the many trash piles we saw some flowers in perfectly good condition on top. Naturally we picked them up and took lots of pictures with them.

For lunch we had fajitas and they were delicious. Alonso makes sure that we eat everything we can possibly eat and then one more serving. I always feel like I am going to explode when I am done eating. I ended up having three fajitas and a huge bowl of strawberries. Apparently I am an expert fajita folder so Alonso had me fold his and show everyone else how it was done. I liked being good at something since I never know what is going on.

After lunch they took us to the train station to buy out ticket for tomorrows adventure and then to a big grocery store to buy our favorite wine to take home to our parents. The store sells ham by the leg with the hoof and everything still on. It really disturbs me and they have an entire section for this. They also have this in small stores all around town. It makes me want to become a vegetarian. When we went to check out, Alonso wasn’t happy with the price of the wine so he got the manager involved who confirmed that they were charging twice the listed price but that they weren’t changing it. Apparently we can buy it somewhere else so we just left. I also noticed today that I am starting to be able to hear the difference in the Spanish accents. I have heard that Spaniards have a heavy lisp when they speak but I just started actually hearing it today and I noticed how different it is than when I hear Maria, Clara, and Alonso talk together.

 

For dinner we went to Antonio’s pizza. Alonso is very good friend’s with Antonio and has been talking about his pizza all week. Antonio is very famous in the pizza world and has won many competitions for all things pizza related. He is an expert pizza tosser (I don’t know if that’s a word but I’m not sure what else to call it) and has pictures of himself competing and tossing a circle of dough that is probably about as wide as he is tall (he is pretty tall). He also sculpted a full sized dragon out of pizza. He is pretty talented. We got three personal pizzas that were definitely not personal size and when I was done I wished I was wearing my elastic gypsy pants. Alonso and Antonio decided that we needed two desserts even after we insisted that we were already to full. The two desserts were Semifreddo De Kinder Casero and a Nutella Calzone. I could only eat half of the first one because I was so full. I also had an awkward bathroom experience because my day isn’t complete without at least one awkward moment. I walked into the bathroom and it had a sliding door that wouldn’t close all the way and then the light wouldn’t turn on. I went back to the table to get my phone so I could use the flashlight. Back in the dark bathroom I saw that there wasn’t any toilet paper or paper towels and there was a sign on the wall above the toilet that I couldn’t read. I decided that I didn’t need to go to the bathroom.

Trash Flowers

You might not have needed to know that story but Maria wanted me to include it in my blog.

Our quote of the day is, “And at the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.” –Shanti

I can guarantee you that my feet are dirty from the beach and my hair is such a mess from the wind that my brush broke when I tried to untangle it. It was like the scene from The Princess Diaries except I was able to fix the brush. My eyes are figuratively sparkling as I recount all of these fun memories for you at 2am while listening to One Direction.

 

Do You Want To Build A Snowman?

Today we took another road trip! We first drove to La Sierra Nevada Mountains in Grenada (6890 feet above sea level) where we saw snow. We were so high up in the mountain and the view was amazing. The snow was so deep that when I walked my foot sunk into the snow and my entire boot was covered. We tried to build a snowman but it was way more difficult than I thought. I have newfound respect for people who can build snowmen. I also learned that Maria likes to eat snow… Alonso bought us plastic snow shovels and we used them as sleds to slide down the snow. It was a lot of fun and very cold. Being from Florida I don’t really have snow clothes so I was in jeans and by the time we were done my pants were completely soaked. We then drove to a different part of the mountain where we went on a mini sled roller coaster. Maria and I though our sleds were attached but at the last second we realized they weren’t so I was a little freaked out because the guy had just said all of the instructions in Spanish. I was fine and it was fun. We also got to watch people ski which was cool. After our snow adventure we drove back down the mountain to the city of Grenada where we changed out of our wet clothing. This was also quite an adventure because we had to change in tiny stalls and we were more wet than we expected to be. While we were changing the lights in the bathroom went out and we had to turn on our phone flashlights. We laughed a lot after we screamed.

Once in town we stopped to get drinks and tapas. They served us tiny breaded fish that still had tales and spines. I was seriously freaked out but I was hungry so I ate them. I definitely swallowed part of a spine and it hurt. After that we took the bus to the entrance of La Alhambra which is a very famous castle and used to be one of the 7 wonders of the world until very recently.

The name Alhambra is Arabic for the Red Castle. The first palace on the site was built by Samuel Ha-Nagid, the Jewish grand vizier of one of Granada’s 11th-century Zirid sultans. In the 13th and 14th centuries, the Nasrid emirs turned the area into a fortress-palace complex, adjoined by a village of which only ruins remain. After the Reconquista (Christian reconquest), the Alhambra’s mosque was replaced with a church, and the Convento de San Francisco (now the Parador de Granada) was built. Carlos I (also known as the Habsburg emperor Charles V), grandson of the Catholic Monarchs, had a wing of the palaces destroyed to make space for his huge Renaissance work, the Palacio de Carlos V. During the Napoleonic occupation, the Alhambra was used as a barracks and nearly blown up.(http://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/granada)

 

When we were done we took the bus back to town and we got a chocolate pastry. After we walked out of the bakery we saw ice cream. We got that too because we are in Spain so why choose only one. I got chocolate orange and Ferrero Rocher ice cream. It was super yummy. Then we took the bus to a different view point so that we could see the Alhambra from far away. The town has a lot of gypsies because they were enslaved there and they are the ones who built the Alhambra. The gypsies sell a lot of handmade jewelry and they sing on the street. After taking pictures we headed off to find a place to have tea because Granada is known for having the best tea. The place that we found was very interesting because it had Hookah’s on all the tables and it was Arabian themed.

The waitress brought us traditional hats to wear and Maria laughed so hard she cried. After we drank our tea we did lots of shopping and Maria and I both got gypsy pants. We look like we could fit right into the Disney movie Aladdin. We are both in love with our pants because they are extremely comfortable and cute. We plan on wearing them on the plane ride home. Hopefully we don’t get stopped in customs for looking crazy.

For dinner we had chicken and pork with vegetables and it was delicious. We have another beach trip planned for tomorrow and we are very excited. According to Maria’s phone we walked over six miles today! Maybe that burned off the ice cream and chocolate pastry.




This is my new friend. We are having a staring contest.

Sightseeing in Malaga

I am writing this post in the back of the car looking at a beautiful view while we are on our way to our next adventure. I didn’t post last night because we got home so late and we had to be up so early today. So now you just get to read two posts today.

I started off the day with a nice hot shower and my new favorite breakfast. Today Maria and I were on our own because both Clara and Alonso had to work. Our plan was to walk to a castle and then walk to the beach. We hadn’t been to either so we were just going off of vague directions they gave us last night at dinner. We bundled up and we were ready for our next adventure.

Instead of going down the mountain we went further up. This is a much different experience walking that it is driving. As we walked up the mountain the view just got prettier and prettier and we stopped every couple of minutes to take pictures. Within about five minutes we realized that all of our layers were not necessary so we took off two jackets and stuffed them in our bags. Our plan was to have empty bags so we could buy a lot of stuff but we filled them up before we were even halfway to the castle. At one point we had the perfect view so we took some random steps to a balcony and took a lot of pictures. As we were finishing up we realized that someone owned that stairwell/balcony. We noticed this because the owner came home. He just stared at us and went into his house. We were on our way again. We got to a place where we could take a road to the castle or a hiking trail to who knows where. Obviously we took the hiking trail. For a while it was just woods and it was very peaceful. Eventually the woods on the left cleared out and we had the most spectacular view. It made the view from earlier look terrible. Once again we took lots of pictures. From our view we could see the whole city. We could see the Mediterranean, the cathedral, the bull plaza, and all the buildings. It was so beautiful. Once we finally convinced ourselves we couldn’t stay there all day and stare at the view we continued on our hike. We got lucky because the trail actually led to the castle.

The castle was called Gribralfaro and it was huge. The castle was built in 929AD by Abd-al-Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, on a former Phoenician enclosure and lighthouse. Yusef 1, Sultan of Granada, enlarged it at the beginning of the 14th century, also adding the double wall down to the Alcazaba (smaller castle down the mountain.)

The castle is famous for its three-month siege by the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, which ended only when hunger forced the Malagueños to surrender. Afterwards Ferdinand occupied the site, while his queen took up residence in the town. Interesting historic fact: this was the first conflict in which gunpowder was used by both sides. (http://www.andalucia
.com/cities/malaga/gibralfaro.htm) We got to go up to the roof and see another amazing view. After we were done touring the castle we tried to take the same path down but we couldn’t find the entrance to the path. We could see the path below us so we took something that resembled a path down to the actual path. That probably wasn’t the best idea because we did more sliding than walking but we eventually found our way.

Next stop: The Mediterranean! In order to get to the beach we had to walk all the way back down the

mountain and through town. I got lots of exercise today. The Mediterranean is beautiful and the sand is a little different from regular sand. Even though we were not dressed for the beach at all in our jeans and boots/converse we stayed on the beach for hours. The weather was perfect. It was warm with a light breeze and we both relaxed on our towels listening to the waves. It was so peaceful I could have stayed there all day. Eventually we got up and touched the water. It was extremely cold and Clara says that it is always very cold even in the summer. After taking jumping pictures and yoga pictures and GoPro videos we decided it was time to go. Or not… we found a tiny gym on the beach with little metal machines. It is hard to describe but it was really cool. Then we found a playground on the beach and our inner five year olds came out and we ran to the playground. The playground had a zip line and a jungle gym. We were in heaven.

We needed to find WiFi so we could let Clara and Alonso know we wouldn’t be home for lunch and the only place we knew that had WiFi was Burger King. After we bought a muffin in exchange for the WiFi password we were on our way again.

We went to the Bull Fighting Arena but we weren’t able to go inside so we just took pictures outside. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and walking around downtown. I may not be on the sleep schedule here but I am on the meal schedule. We eat breakfast at 9 or 10, lunch at 4 or 5, and dinner at 10. We had for lunch downtown at 5. We ate camperos which are famous sandwiches apparently. They were really yummy. Our plan was to go back to the apartment and drop off all of our shopping bags and make it back downtown to the ferris wheel by 7 so that we would be at the top at 7:15 to see the sunset.

Unfortunately things didn’t go according to plan so we missed the sunset. We still ended up going out because Maria was carving Kinder Eggs so we went to the supermarket. Their regular sized grocery store is about the size of our Publix Bakery but it has everything they need. We also got some Red Bull for Alonso and some cookies for Clara. We were obviously American because we didn’t bring a bag with us so we had to carry everything out in our hands and we looked ridiculous. We wanted to go down to our favorite tea place so we stuffed everything we got into our purses and they were both completely stuffed adding to our ridiculousness. We never actually got tea because it took us an hour of walking in circles to actually find the place and then we got lost again on our way home.

We ended up sneaking back into the apartment building because we couldn’t get our keys to work so we waited by the door for someone to walk out and when we heard someone coming we pretended to be walking up and then we just slipped in the open door behind them on their way out. The plan worked perfectly and we were just in time to help with dinner at 10. For dinner we had chicken, chips (fries), artichokes, and some wine.
According to Maria’s phone we walked a total of ten miles. It was a very long day that resulted in exhaustion, blisters, beautiful pictures, and fun memories.

We’re Off to See the Queen, The Wonderful Queen of England

Tarifa, Spain (Atlantic Coast)

This morning I tried a new breakfast and it was amazing. First you put granola cereal into a bowl. Instead of milk you put a cup of yogurt on top. Alonso insisted that the correct way to get the yogurt out is to flip it upside down and stab the bottom with a knife so that it all comes out in one glob. On top of the yogurt you add some cooked apples that have cinnamon on them. To top it all off you add some honey and voila you have a wonderful breakfast. 

 

View from Tarifa Mountains

Today we went on another road trip and we got to see many amazing things. On our way to our first destination we stopped on the side of the road in the mountains of Tarifa to take pictures of the beautiful view. We then made our way to Conjunto Arqueologico De Baelo Claudia where we got to see ruins of a Roman Temple. It was on the beach and it was very beautiful. Some of the columns and statues were still standing which was really cool to see. We also got to see another Roman Theater. There were sheep running around and some British people! You can read more about it at www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/baeloclaudia.


Me and my new Roman friend

One of my most favorite parts of the day was what came next. From where we were located we could look out over the Atlantic and see Africa! I’ll repeat that because it is so exciting. WE GOT TO SEE AFRICA! It was so close and people often take boats over. You can see the mountains and at night you can see it all lit up. It was very beautiful and we took a lot of pictures. On the road we passed by these small cars completely decorated with stickers. Alonso explained that students can drive these cars from Paris to Africa carrying school supplies. The have to raise 3,000 Euros from sponsors who get to put their sticker on the car. We saw a ton of the cars and it was really cool!


See those mountains in the back? That's Africa.

Ok, so the title of this post is a little misleading… We didn’t go to see the Queen, but we did go to England. Once again I’ll repeat that because it was so exciting. WE WENT TO ENGLAND!

Drinking tea in an English Pub

The city we went to is called Gibraltar and we had to show our passports at the boarder which was very exciting. After crossing the border we had to wait a while because the Gibraltar international airport is right there and the road goes right through the runway so we had to wait for a plane to land before we could enter. Gibraltar is known for its big Rock, monkeys, and rock n’ roll history. John Lennon and Yoko Ono had their wedding in Gibraltar in 1969. I was extremely excited to be in England for the first time and it was also very exciting because I knew the language. We ate lunch in a little English Pub where I ordered tea and fish and chips. I felt very British. After some shopping we drove farther up the mountain to see another view of Africa and to look for the monkeys. We saw about four monkeys digging through trash at a distance but that was it.

You can't go to England and not take this picture

There are thought to be about 230 Barbary macaques on the rock, the only wild population of the monkeys in Europe. Last year, more than 50 people were sent to the hospital due to attacks.

After leaving Gibraltar very late we drove to what is known as the "Golden Mile.” It has lots of prestigious nightclubs and coastal estates. We walked around this town and got to see the Puerto Banús marina which is filled with luxury yachts. Clara described it as the richest city in Spain and it was easy to see why. Between the cars we saw parked on the streets and the shops we passed and the extravagant yachts it looked like something out of a movie. We didn’t get home until very late which I think is very typical here in Spain. It was a long and tiring but beautiful day.

Recap: We started off in Spain, got to see Roman Ruins, the beach, and Africa, went to England, and got to go to a rich town and see yachts. Not a bad day. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.


Maria and I casually pretending we own one of the yachts

 

Road trip to Córdoba

I can describe the first night here in one word. Cold. Two layers and lots of blankets won’t be enough for tonight.

After getting out of the cold bed we got ready in the cold bathroom and then ate breakfast in the cold dining room. The apartment is on the sixth floor of a complex on a mountain so we are pretty high up. The wind is so loud and strong that it constantly rattles the windows. It kind of freaks me out. Today we had a typical European breakfast of sandwiches and pastries. It was all very delicious. We then got in the tiny car and drove for two hours to Córdoba. I slept for about 95% of the drive so I missed most of the olive tree groves that Maria got to see. The car has this cool feature where it beeps when he reaches the cars maximum speed which is 125kmph (about 77mph). It beeped a lot and it is really funny because Alonso yells at the car to keep going every time it happens.  The funniest thing is that they listened to heavy metal in the car!!

Córdoba has both Roman and Islamic influences and is very beautiful. We walked around on the small cobblestone roads and did some shopping. I love how all of the roads are paved differently and how some have designs. They also have a lot of orange trees all around the town. We happened to be there on the day of a parade and we got to see lots of dressed up horses with their riders dressed in old fashioned traditional Spanish outfits.

 After a very large lunch we got to tour The Cathedral of Córdoba. Mass is held here every day and then it is open for tours in the afternoon. It was originally the San Vicente Basilica but it was destroyed during the Islamic period in order to build a Mosque. In 1236 King Ferdinand III reconquered Córdoba bringing back Christianity. The Christians were eager to take back their sacred place and they built their Cathedral within the existing Mosque. I was very beautiful with lot of columns and arches. The Alter was very large and intricate and there were plaques built into the floor. You can read more about it at www.catedraldecordoba.es if you want.

Next we went to a museum at the Torre De La Calahorra. We took an audio tour and mine was in English. This was very exciting for me since nothing has been in English including all of our conversations. The tour was about the history of Córdoba and we went from room to room. Each room had realistic dioramas of people, instruments, and buildings. We also got to go on the roof and see Córdoba from above. On our way back down from the roof we took a pit stop at the bathroom. This was quite an experience because when you open a door to a bathroom you expect to see the bathroom. Instead there was a stairwell that went down. It went down for a lot longer than I expected and the stairwell ended with a tiny one stalled bathroom that Maria liked the smell of. You can read more about the Torre De La Calahorra at www.torrecalahorra.com if you would like. At this point it warmed up for about an hour and I got to take off three of my layers.

We left Córdoba and drove to a small town called Archidona where we stopped for drinks. The place we went to looked like a cave inside and was very dark. I got some hot tea and the teabag came in a tiny box about an inch high. I thought that was very cool so I kept the box. The rest of the drive back to Malaga was up and down twisty mountain roads and I had to get my sea bands out. It was a very beautiful drive and I managed to stay awake for most of it.



Normal dinner time in Spain is 9pm.
This very different from the 6pm dinner I have in Gainesville and by the time we sat down to eat I was very hungry. Maria and I got to help cook a little bit which was fun. For dinner we had salad and pasta with pesto and of course wine. This time we approved of the wine. It was made in Malaga and it is a little sweet and not too strong. Just the way Maria and I like it. For desert we had figs and cheese and some left over pastries from breakfast. Everything was very delicious.



Tonight Maria and I came to the conclusion that Alonso is an older version of Armando. It’s the way he smiles and he tells jokes with a straight face. He also tells the same kinds of jokes. Seeing the resemblance makes it even funnier.


We have a very exciting outing planed for tomorrow that I can’t wait to write about!

Like my cliff hanger ending?