2 weeks ago we had our spring break, which is called Semana Santa, or Holy Week, here in Spain. My parents, Karin and Taylor came to visit me and we traveled from the very north of Spain to the very south all in a matter of 10 days!
Our adventure began last Wednesday, here in Santander. My parents flew into Madrid around 8am Wednesday morning, then took a train up here where I met them very tired, but excited in the train station here in Santander. We immediately went to check them in at their hotel, and after getting settled in I took them to one of my favorite places for dinner, Cruz Blanca. They got to meet the owner, and enjoy the people and food of Spain. The next day, we meet up pretty early so that I could give them a tour of the beautiful city that I call home. Although the weather was dreary and rainy, they still enjoyed seeing the beautiful buildings/sites of Santander. That afternoon we all came to my piso(apartment) to have lunch with my madre and abuela. My parents absolutely loved them, and they loved my parents as well. It was really fun being their translator, and I was so happy that my two families got to meet each other. Friday, we had a flight at 12ish to Barcelona, so the morning was spent packing up and getting to the airport. We got into Barcelona a little before 2, and went to our hotel to drop off our luggage. This was my second time in the beautiful city of Barcelona (the weekend before our NC group took a trip there). We immediately set out to explore the city. Our hotel was very close to Passeig de Gracia, which is a main road that holds a few famous works of Antoni Gaudi. We made our way past Plaza Catalunya to the most famous road in Barça, Las Ramblas where we saw many interesting people, processions, and a few cool historic buildings. We found our way to a restaurant off a side street and I ate some of the best curry chicken that I had had in a very long time!
Saturday morning everyone woke up pretty tired so we got a late start to the day. We did find a cute café named Habluc where we indulged in a few cups of coffee and some pastries. My dad absolutely adored the coffee here, as do I! After getting caffeinated, we set off to explore Barcelona some more. We ended up back on Las Ramblas in route to the Mediterranean Sea! We made a stop on at the huge fresh market where we walked around and tasted all the delicious fresh food. The market had everything- fresh fruits, juices, nuts, spices, breads, meat, fish, candies, eggs, you name it. Walking down Las Ramblas we stumbled across some artisan markets as well. One of the many things that I love about Barcelona is all the markets that fill the streets! We finally made to the beach, and I took my parents to a restaurant that I had eaten at the weekend before, called Xup Xup. The patio for the restaurant sits directly on the beach, and it was a beautiful day, so we enjoyed the afternoon sampling spanish appetizers of stuffed olives, mussels, and clams, paella (the typical dish of Barcelona), jamon iberico (spanish ham), and a delicious burger with a fried egg. Needless to say it was a delicious meal! We ended up staying there until the sun went down, and the city lit up!
Sunday, Easter Sunday, we woke up early because we had bought tickets to enter the Sagrada Familia, one of the most famous, largest, and most eccentric cathedrals in Spain- it was also designed by Antoni Gauid. The construction of the church is not yet complete, but as of right now there are 4 towers and 2 of those are open to the public. We took the elevator to the top of one of the towers and enjoyed the beautiful view of Barcelona, afterward we walked around the immense interior of the church. The main level has the most eccentric architecture, and the most beautiful stained glass windows. The bottom level, which is open to the public for mass, is a more simple-typical church setting. After taking in the beauty of the Sagrada Familia, we took the metro a little outside the city to Parque Güel, the park designed by Antoni Gaudi. There were so, so many people but my parents enjoyed seeing the view from the top of the park and listening to the unique music that is played throughout the park as well. We made our way back into the center, where we crashed at a restaurant on Passeig de Gracia called QuQu. Here I ate one of the best burgers of my life- it was on beer bread buns, with goat cheese, and grilled asparagus- so good! The next day we had our flight at 6:15AM to Sevilla, so when we made it back to the hotel we relaxed at a tea café that was right next door, and packed up our suitcases.
Early Monday morning (4:30AM) we woke up to catch our flight to Sevilla. The flight was quick, and we made it into Sevilla around 8ish, got settled in at the hotel and went out to explore Sevilla! Sadly, we chose a pretty gross restaurant to eat breakfast in, so afterward when we stumbled across Starbucks we stopped in for breakfast round 2. First, we went into the cathedral of Sevilla but there was a special service going on so we couldn't see the entire church. Right next to the cathedral is the Alcazar, which is the old Islamic palace that remains in Sevilla. We spent the rest of the morning walking around, seeing the beautiful muslim architecture and the gorgeous, green gardens. By the time we were finished at the Alcazar, the cathedral had opened up all of it's doors to the public. Taylor and I really wanted to the climb the Giralda tower, so we re-entered and did just that. Afterward, we walked around in search of food and stumbled across a small restaurant in a very narrow back street, where we ate lots and lots of delicious tapas (appetizers)- stuffed zucchini, spinach and garbanzos, goat cheese, spanish ham, and lots more. By this point we were all extremely tired so we went back to the hotel and took about a 3 hour nap, woke up with just enough time to grab some dinner, and then came back to the hotel to go back to sleep.
Tuesday, we woke up bright and early to catch our train to Cadiz. Cadiz is one of the most southern cities and has beautiful beaches because it's a port city on a peninsula that sticks out from the rest of the country. It is also one of the oldest functioning cities in Spain. It's a city that we had talked about a lot in our history class, so it was really interesting to visit. It was a beautiful day, with lots of sun and a light breeze so we spent the majority of the day on the beach enjoying the weather. While we were enjoying the beach, there was a warning going out throughout all the loud speakers on the beach. It was warning us about a rare type of portuguese jellyfish that was washing up on the shores and injuring (possibly killing) the people in Cadiz. Taylor and I decided to walk the beach to look for seashells, and we ended up seeing almost 6 of the jellyfish that had washed up- a few alive, a few dead. They were actually really pretty jellyfish, and very small too. After exploring the beach, and laying out for a while we decided to find some lunch. We ended up stumbling across a fish place that specialized in lots of fried seafood. We decided to buy a little bit of everything and taste it all- calamari, fried shrimp, croquets, and a shrimp/crab salad. Lunch left me happy and full, and ready for a nap. Taylor and I ended up passing out on the beach, for a little longer than we should've and we got very sunburnt. We took a night train back to Sevilla, and passed out as soon as we got back to the hotel.
Wednesday, was our official last full day in Sevilla, so we all wanted to walk around and explore the town a little bit more. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us very well and it rained most of the day. But Taylor and I made the best of it, mainly because we really wanted to shop. We found lots of cute/eccentric stores, but most of our money was spent on sweets- chocolate croissants, some sort of almond cookie, and dark chocolate covered oranges! We met up with our parents at the Plaza de Toros (Bull ring) and took a tour of the ring and the museum. I learned that the bull ring in Sevilla is one of the oldest in Spain. After our tour, Taylor and I found this really good italian restaurant and split some delicious alfredo. We went shopping a little bit more after we ate, but we had to make it back to the hotel because that night we were going to a flamenco show! Flamenco is a typical type of music/song/dance of the south of Spain-Andalucia. There was a guitarist who could play so fluently- it was like a work of art. A singer, whose voice was very different but it went really well with the guitar, and lastly a dancer whose feet moved so rapidly- the dance was comparable to tap dancing, mainly because of the beats she made with her feel, but the rest of her body moved in a completely different way. It was one of the most intriguing shows I'd ever been to. After the flamenco show, we all ate italian again, for dinner. We actually ate at a place where the Grandee (duchess) of Spain had eaten, nonetheless the food was delicious! We all had different dishes and just passed them around the table the entire time, trying out each one.
Thursday we had another early morning because we had a train to Granada that left at 6:50am! The train ride was 2 and half hours so we got a little nap in before we made it there. Granada was not my favorite city, however the Alhambra (a very famous Muslim palace turned catholic palace) was absolutely beautiful, and the view of the city from the top of the towers was gorgeous as well. The streets in the old jewish town of Granada were also very interesting- super narrow, and filled with lots of little shops. We ate lunch at a kebab place, which my parents picked, I thought it was hilarious they picked kebab of all things because that's our go-to food here in Santander. After lunch we headed up the hill to the Alhambra. Granada is a city full of hills- but that's something that makes it unique and beautiful. We got into the Alhambra around 3ish and walked around the General Life gardens for a while, until it started raining! We found a souvenir shop and stayed inside until it stopped. When it finally stopped, we entered the palace of Carlos V. I had also learned about his palace in my classes so it was really interesting to actually be there. We then went into the old muslim palace and climbed all the towers that they used as "lookout towers" to watch for intruders. I decided that I really wanted a pic standing on the ledge of the tower, so I stood on the ledge and my mom had a heart attack- all the while my dad and I were just laughing. We were finally able to enter the new, "famous" part of the Alhambra at 6. The architecture was breath-taking! The entire time I was trying to picture how it would've been when it was actually in use- how different it would've looked. After touring the rest of the palace we headed back down the hill to get some dinner. I'm a little ashamed to say that we settled for Subway, but it was right across the street and we were pressed for time to catch our train back to Sevilla. We got back around 12:30ish and went back to the hotel so that my parents could pack their bags because the next day was their flight back home.
Overall, I had a wonderful time traveling with my family(and second family). We had lot's of laughs, especially at my dad- who tried to speak in Spanish, bless his heart. I especially loved showing them around where I live, and I was SO glad they got to meet my host mom- who is now part of my family as well.
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