Blogs from Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

Hola mis amigos! :) Well, Jana’s wedding marked my last overnight trip until my parents arrive, as of the 19th of May I only have one month left here in Cadiz and two months left until I arrive back in the United States. It’s been nearly a year of crazy adventures, new experiences, and definitely testing my limits. I really thought that after Jana’s wedding the excitement would die down that things would be rather calm here in Spain with just papers and tests left as my “exciting” things to do, but Giorgio (my Sicilian geology professor) and his “field trip” added themselves to my long list of things that did not turn out how I expected. The only way to describe it is what I said at our last stop of the day, “Esta es ... read more

So I got to Málaga finally. So far, so good. No major catastrophes. I met my host family who I'll be staying with for the next two weeks and got stuck into my next book, "The Pilgrimage". Another of Paulo Coelho's titles. Well actually I started that a few days ago when I was back in Cádiz. Cádiz was great. I suspected I would like staying there after stopping for the afternoon in the car on my way to Sevilla. In fact I'd got to Cádiz a couple of days earlier than I'd originally planned as Semana Santa in Sevilla just became a little to difficult for me to digest and finding places to stay was always a pain. Plus, I had really wanted to couchsurf my way through Sevilla, but that didn't happen at all ... read more

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve had a minute to write because things have been pretty busy here since the beginning of March! I’ve got a lot of catching up to do so just be prepared I will be posting a blog a day for about the next 4 days. I know! Yay, right?! Right? A few Saturdays ago my friend Blair who is studying in London came down to Seville to work on a project so I got to show him around! I guess he’s actually more studying in Europe than in London, he’s based in London like 3 days out of the week, but the other four he and his group spend travelling. On the surface it sounds pretty fun, which I know travelling is neat, but I also know that travelling ... read more

While looking up things to do in Cadiz, I came across a pamphlet in the tourist office entitled "Four walks through Cadiz". These were details of walks around different areas of Cadiz that are relevant to different parts of the city's history. Cadiz claims to be the oldest city in Europe, reportedly founded in 1100BC by the Phoenicians, and has played a central role throughout Spanish history. I knew that Cadiz had a lot to reveal. So one free sunny morning, I took myself off with my map and camera on walk number one: through the medieval district and Puerta de Tierra. Cadiz, as a city built out on a narrow peninsula, has always had a strong maritime history. One of the more famous, or infamous, events was the "singeing of the King of Spain's beard" ... read more

Unfortunately, Carneval was not all that I had hoped it would be. I ended up getting a pirate costume with my roommate Kia, for only 10 euros. I thought that was a pretty good deal, and the best part is that I can wear it again next Halloween if I want to. Anyway, we went to Carneval through a travel agency called "We Love Spain". The trip was only 10 euros and included a sandwich, a soda, and a shot. A pretty good deal. The only problem was that everyone from my program was put on the very last bus, bus 14, which also contained the man who was in charge of the other 13 buses. This meant that we weren't able to leave until all the other buses had been taken care of. We were ... read more