10 Cities in 10 Days.

After getting moved to Extremadura, the next adventure was set to begin. 10 Cities in 10 Days. While we hadn't planned anything in advance, we had a plan in mind and we set off! 

Zach (a friend from Missouri) and I had decided to travel together... visiting his old friends/roommate in Madrid, finally visiting Asturias for me (and him) to make me happy, returning to Running of the Bulls (for him) and my first time seeing the toros, going to Barcelona (for him) to make him happy and my third visit to the wonderful city & to visit two friends of mine who live/are from there, and ending in Madrid with his friends again to do some day trips and catching up time!

In the end...

Madrid. Oviedo. Gijon (beach day!). San Sebastian (changing buses), Pamplona. Zaragoza (changing buses). Barcelona. Madrid. Avila. El Escorial. Ten cities in ten days. Wow, we were busy! 

Madrid's Barajas Airport, where I spent 5 hours waiting for Zach... delayed flights stink! I ended up buying a book to pass the time. I wrote some blogs. I took a siesta. This was my "view"...

After Zach arrived, we went for a relaxing day in the park; we had some refreshing drinks and enjoyed the Spanish sun. After, we headed to Augustin's flat (Zach's old roommate) where we were staying. After a tasty Mexican dinner and some Coronitas, we called it a night!

Day two was spent with Rocio, Zach's friend (and now mine!), visiting the Royal Palace and main historical buildings in the center of Madrid. Later in the day we visited the Residencia de Estudiantes, where many famous men came together and studied. This was Zach's fave.

Walking from the Residencia to Parque Retiro to meet up with Gonzalo, Rocio's boyfriend and another of Zach's friends, we stopped by the United States Embassy! Happy 4th of July!!!!

On Day 3, we made our way from Madrid to Oviedo, Asturias, in Northern Spain. I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful Oviedo was! Wow! Many of my Westminster friends have studied abroad in Oviedo, and I was happy to finally see it for myself!

For lucnh, we had fabada, arroz con leche, and Asturian sidra! You have to pour it over your head into the glass. I was happy the waiter poured it for us, because I've tried to do it before, and more ended up on my feet than in the cup!

Day 4: Beach day in Gijon!!! Unfortunately, the tied was rising...and rising...
and we were kicked off the beach just after a few hours. But we enjoyed a nice bocadillo at the beach and enjoyed the Spanish sun for a little while before we were forced to leave!

Gijon, a coastal beach town in Asturias, is absolutely lovely! Check out that sky over the port! After the beach was a no-go, we spent time exploring other places of Gijon before heading back to Oviedo.

Day 5: Due to last minute plans and a lack of busses/trains/transportation in general to get to Pamplona, we had to pay extra to go on the express bus to San Sebastian, then a second bus to Pamplona. But, the express bus was the coolest bus EVER. Seats with fold out foot rests (real ones, none of those that flip out from the seat in front of you), individual TVs, free water, free sandwiches and sodas for our dinner snack, a bus attendant, and free gifts when you arrived to your stop: little magnetic people clips that stick together and form a piece of "art". It was the fastest, most comfortable 5 hour bus ride: EVER!

The Picos de Europa around us were so breathtaking! I think Northern Spain has some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Due to window glares and constant tunnels, I couldn't get too great of photos in the really pretty places, so this will have to do! But, still, look at those mountains!

Later on Day 5, after a stop in San Sebastian, we finally made it to Pamplona for the Running of the Bulls festival. Picture 500,000 people, dressed in red and white... partying in the streets for 10 days straight... drinking wine. Let's just say, Los Fermines is a fiesta you should experience once in your life. By the end of 10 hours, you're sick of seeing red and white clothing, drunk people, stepping on trash and people. Yes, people.

We couldn't leave Pamplona's bull festival without riding one... my favorite ride: El Toro Loco! Zach and I both had battle wounds on our hands and legs from falling off!!

Dressed in red and white, blending right in with the crowd. 

A little taste of the bulls! :)

After sleeping in the park, we got up early on day 6 to go see the bulls run! There are 10 bulls and some other cows running down the streets around 7:30am. The bulls were inside two rows of fencing, and all the people (who were smart not to run!) were packed behind them. While it was a bit uncomfortable and super hot, it was over rather quickly and we made our way to the bus station, which was an experience all on its own!

People slept wherever people could sleep. The tv monitors didn't work, so you had to walk around to find your bus... 6 buses left for Zaragoza at the same time... which was ours? What. A. Mess. Well, in order to get to the doors of the buses, you had to step over the people still sleeping/passed out from too much wine. My 50+ pound suitcase didn't help matters - good thing Zach was strong!

Day 6, in the afternoon/evening, was spent exploring La Rambla and its surrounding areas in Barcelona - like, the Plaza Mayor seen above. We were able to meet up with an Irish friend of mine, Seodhna, who I met in Salamanca. Together, we all went around the Gothic quarters, near Bacelona's port, before stopping for tapas.

Barcelona's port at sunset. Yet another amazing view!

On day 7, we explored Gaudi's Parque Guell, that has nice views of Barcelona below. Good thing they had esclators to climb the hills to get there, or I'm still not sure if I'd have made it to the top! What a fantastic place - the tile work, the design - it just let you in awe!

Zach wanted to see the 1992 Olympic park, so we went. This view is overlooking the magic fountain, Plaza Espana, and the Plaza de Toros (all seen on the left of the photo!) Later in the night, we returned to the magic fountain (thinking we would see the light show - but it only happens on certain nights in the summer - bummer!) where we bought beers from the guys walking around and enjoyed the nice summer weather, before we met up with my other friend, Edu, who lived in Valladolid this year! We spent the night going out on the town, which was way too much fun!

After visiting the Olympic stadium, we needed some refreshments. Healthy ones! We stopped by the San Josep Market just off la Rambla. These fresh fruit slushes were wonderfullllll. What kind do you want?

After trying to visit the Cathedral of Barcelona, (we visited La Sagrada Familia earlier in the morning) and were unsuccessful due to my sundress, we wandered through the Gothic area again and found this wonderful side street! How pretty is that walkway?!

After spending the 8th morning on the high speed train (thank you Zach!) we made it back to Madrid to spend the evening/nigh with Rocio and Gonzalo. We went to El Escorial, a town/monastary about half an hour from Madrid. Later in the night, we had a nice dinner with their friends!

Day 9 included churros for breakfast followed by a fun day trip to Avila, with Rocio, Gonzalo, and two of their friends. We hiked the city walls that surround Avila's old town. We had incredible views of the city below as we circled the town from high above. We had a wonderful home made dinner at Gonzalo's house, with some of the best tortilla espanola I've ever had prepared by Gonzalo's mom! 

Day 10 was a day full of traveling - from Spain back to Missouri. Rocio and Gonzalo took us to the airport where Zach and I met up with Rodrigo, the 12yr old Spanish student from Navalmoral de la Mata, who was coming to spend three weeks in the USA at a summer camp and then with my family and me. We said goodbyes to Rodrigo's family and headed for our plane! After stops in Miami and Chicago, we were happy to be home! 

I had an incredible time traveling during my last days in Spain for the 2011-2012 school year. I'm so glad Zach decided to come visit, as it's always nice to travel with friends and family from back home! We had great experiences in places that were new/old for both of us and wonderful friends to meet up with along the way! Thanks for a fun adventure, Zach!

A Weekend Getaway: San Sebastian

For a relaxing weekend in Spain, look no further than San Sebastian! I told my mom I would stay away from “the bad place” but I couldn’t hold off any longer. After four years of coming and going to Spain, I finally made it to the North – to Pais Vasco. Pais Vasco is a part of Spain that 1) is home to former terrorist group ETA and 2) wants to form its own country because its people claim they aren’t like the rest of Spain. 

Well, my thoughts on the second part of the Pais Vasco description are this: it is Spain. The only main difference is that the tapas are the best I’ve ever had and that the language was strange. In Pais Vasco, they speak Basque/Vasco.  Really, it is just like the rest of Spain, but just a few slight differences – the same differences you see in Barcelona (Catalan) and Valencia (Valenciano). Again, the tapas were great – all the reason to go back again.

I went with my Extremadurian/American friend, Kristen. We had our first travels together to Romania back in December 2011. Neither of us had been to San Sebastian, so I jumped at the chance to go when Kristen mentioned it to me. This was our plan: Thursday night we’d go for tapas in Valladolid. Friday and Saturday were allotted to San Sebastian! Sunday we’d explore Valladolid again, just before Kristen had to return to Caceres. It was a fantastic plan and we executed it “atope!” 

San Sebastian was everything I could have asked for on a relaxing weekend away! We climbed a mountain to visit Jesus (there was a gigantic Jesus statue) – and after half an hour of climbing, we made it! The views were amazing, overlooking the port and Playa de la Concha. We stopped for one of the best canas I’ve ever had, super cool and refreshing. We sat awhile and took in the view some more, which never got old.

Main plaza along the beach!

Playa de la Concha! Springtime happiness!

Beautiful flowers on all the trees!

Stopping along the way for a photo shoot!

Overlooking the cafe where we stopped for cañas!

Cool. Crisp. Refreshing. Cañas.

San Sebastian, you rock.

After our trek, we took time to eat some tapas – our first round of many of the trip. Basically, in San Sebastian, you take a plate and help yourself. You show the waiter what you’ve taken so he can put it on your tab – and then you just dig. right. in. YUM! We watched the sun set from the surfer beach, had more tapas, and called it a night.

Surfer beach for the sunset.

The sunset was rather spectacular.

View from the port. The white lit building is lit up for different festivals in different colors!

TAPAS! YUMMMM!

Grab a plate and help yourself. Be careful, it's a little crowded.

Tapas for two.

Sunday, we managed to do some walking along the Playa de la Concha to visit a theme park that was on top of another mountain on the other side of the town. We took the teleferico to the top and had another great view of the city. 

San Sebastian, Playa de la Concha

Enjoying myself.

Coming up. Going down.

Mysterious River? Elastic Beds? (aka, boat ride or trampolines)

Sunday’s weather was insane! 27 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) in April! We were stripping like it was our job! We went for a nice boat rideWe decided to rent bikes in the afternoon to go see this famous “comb” statue at the complete opposite end of town from where we were staying. After we arrived, we decided to have more cañas to tell ourselves “good job” and after, we went back to the hotel to head out for another night of tapas. Really, it was a pattern – cañas, tapas, beach, great views, cañas, tapas, bike… It was such a nice getaway from boring Valladolid. 

View of the Bay of Biscay... from the Bay of Biscay! We went on a boat ride! Wahoo!

Port of San Sebastian.

Port and blue blue water!

"The Comb" Statue

The comb is rather big...

I had quite the surprise on our train ride back home: an old train hotel (we were just in a car with seats, not a sleeping car) from the 1800s, seriously! Ok, it wasn’t that old, but it was probably from the 80s, and I couldn’t get over it! Nowadays, Spain’s trains are all high speed and super nice. I can’t say the same for this train. When I asked the ticket taker how old the train was, he told me “the people around you are much older than the train!” Thanks for the joke, funny ticket taker.

If you've ever been on a Spanish train... I think you'll agree this isn't the norm.
Seriously, looks like we were in a train in Eastern Europe or somewhere!

All in all, San Sebastian blew me away. I had seen photos of its beach before, but to see it in person is another thing! And the tapas – wow!! I can’t say enough great things about the weekend. Seriously.

So, mom, the next time you ask me if I’m going to “the bad place”, I’ll just tell you “I’m going to get some tapas and enjoy the views.” Then, I don’t think you’ll tell me to “stay away” – but rather, “GO!”