Bienvenidos a España

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I am in the midst of the preparatory stages for Morocco while also sitting in the reflection stages of Spain and I only have one day to complete both. It is taking everything I have to not pick up my travel book on Morocco and start getting ready, but I made a rule that I cannot move on to the next country until my last is complete. That means that the blog is finished, I have reviewed all the restaurants I ate at, recorded all my expenses and completed my notes. To be honest, I cannot believe that port number one is finished. A little over a year ago I had just sent in my application for this program and I was awaiting my acceptance and now in what seems like way less than a year I am on my way to my second port, Casablanca, Morocco. But enough about Morocco and what is to come, let’s talk about Cádiz, Spain.

Now it being my second visit to Andalucía, third visit to Spain, I felt relatively prepared and sure of what to expect and because I could speak the language and knew the area pretty well, I decided to travel independently with Jeremy. We did some research, but decided that we were not going to make an itinerary set in stone and just do what we felt like doing as we came to each place. This had its obvious ups and downs. It gave us the freedom to do exactly what we wanted to do, which was quite different from the rest of the ship who had not been to this area before, but we did not get meet students from the boat through the ship activities. However, I don’t really feel like I missed out because there will be about 10 more countries and several more opportunities to get to know everyone, but I am noticing that a lot of people did seem to get close during their time in Spain. I found that throughout our couple of days of travel, I was comparing a lot of things to Mexico; whether they were differences or similarities; so I will tell that Mexico is very different from Spain, but is very much the same on some levels. I think that I was comparing them because they are the two other countries I know the best and probably from here on out I will be comparing each country to the last or the one before that.

We got off the ship in Cádiz and headed straight for the bus station to catch the next bus to Sevilla. Sevilla is a city that I had been to before, but I loved it so much that I figured another visit would do and that Jeremy really shouldn’t miss it. So that was stop number one. We got there and decided just to walk around and try to find a hostel (I decided not to look for one in advance, since we did not know how much time we were spending where), but after about an hour we had only walked by one and our bags were heavy, we were irritable and realized that maybe I should have at least written down where some of the hostels were. But anyways we went to the only one we had seen and got a room. I had to get out of the room quickly though because I started to get that uneasy, uncomfortable feeling that I get when I am in a new country (even though it was not new), so we just dropped our bags and looked for somewhere to have lunch. Of course now that we were bag less and had found a hostel, we passed several more. After a leisurely, Spanish lunch, we went over to the cathedral and climbed the giralda (tower attached to the cathedral). I, of course, was not carrying my student ID and at the cathedral the price was $8 regular admission and only $2 if you had a student ID, so at least Jeremy had his and we didn’t have to pay full price for both of us. After that we just wandered around, found some ice cream, and did some people watching, which was extra-fantastic because there were about 40 different weddings going on Saturday. I have to say and I remember this from when I was here before, but the Spanish really do shoes, every single person has awesome shoes on, from flip-flops to heels. Later that night (at 11 p. m.) we had dinner, which seems so late in the United States, but because it is the typical thing in Spain, it felt really normal. Our waiter was great; we talked about some of the cities in the area, talked about Madrid and Barcelona being the fashion capitals of Spain, and the driving ages for mopeds. He then gave us VIP cards to a club in Sevilla, which we went to later only to find it closed. I also had the most delicious, rich chocolate mousse and that in itself made up for the club being closed.

The second day we got up and took the tram, so cool (mom and dad, it was very similar to the trams in Zurich), to the bus station. These trams were not there when I was here two years ago, and I think they are a great thing to have in cities to get around; in fact, I propose all cities think about this as an option for getting around, at least those that do not have subways or metros. We caught a bus to Jerez de la Frontera, but when we pulled in we decided that we did not like it so we caught the next train back to Cádiz. We then decided to go straight to Tarifa, a small town down south, near Gibraltar, famous for kite boarding and windsurfing. In between the train and the next bus, we grabbed some food. It was awful; I really do not have any words for it. I was quickly reminded why I lost so much weight the last time I was here and why I just ate ice cream all the time; I just do not like Spanish food, that all! I got a mixed salad and it came with the typical lettuce and tomatoes, but then there were several types of raw fish, prawns, and anchovies, most of which Jeremy would not even touch. Much of the Spanish diet, at least in the south, is based on fish, ham and other meats, so I struggled to find food that I could eat. Luckily when we got to Tarifa, I found some relief on the eating front, because there were tons of Italian and Middle Eastern vegetarian restaurants.

Tarifa was wonderful; when I look back over my notes on the restaurants and the descriptions of the streets, one word continuously popped up, quaint. Although I am not sure that Tarifa can be explained in one word because it was quaint, but also intense, fiery, sweet, athletic (if a town can be sweet and athletic), and just overall awesome. Most people walked around in bathing suits, board shorts, and flip-flops. There was just this overall relaxed, casual feel, which one just cannot help but fall in love with. There was a surplus of surf shops, outdoor companies, and friendly people. Tarifa is broken up into the old city, which remains behind walls, and the new area, which probably just outgrew the smaller old city. We stayed in the newer part of the city, but spent a fair amount of time wandering both the old city and the new city. I loved how the old city was just a maze of streets that ran in all different directions, with apartments, restaurants, coffee shops, retail shops randomly placed within the walls. It was kind of a game; you never knew what you were going to come upon next. What amazed me was that each apartment had different balconies (so you could tell where one apartment ended and the next began), but all the balconies were some sort of beautiful wrought iron or they had glass enclosed overhangs, etc; it really added to the charm and magic of this area. Most people tended to leave their doors/entrances open on both the ground level and from their balconies so you could get a glimpse of some of the apartments and I just wanted one; most of them had beautifully detailed ceilings (which was all I could see when I looked up through the balcony doors) and awesome front doors.

There happened to be a huge festival and fair going on that Sunday night when we got there and so all the women and little girls were dressed up in their flamenco outfits. I wish I could have taken some pictures of these little girls (I figured it would be a little strange to ask the parents if I could take a picture of their daughter) because all of the little girls were gorgeous and so adorable all dressed up in their brightly colored, ruffled dresses with a giant flower on top of their heads. There was a procession of a 1,000 horses through the town and then I think everyone went out to the fair.

This was the first place in my entire life that I had experienced some sort of difficulty eating ice cream. Can you believe it? The professional ice cream eater met her match-the Tarifa winds. This was the only downside to the town. I ended up with ice cream all over my face, in my hair, on my hands, and even my clothes. Jeremy was un-phased by the wind and I think it was because his hair was not flying all around into the ice cream and then splattering it all over him, so I had to enlist his help in getting the ice cream situation under control. For all those girls, who are planning to have ice cream in Tarifa, I would suggest eating it indoors, as hair and wind and ice cream do not seem to work well together. All and all though Tarifa did have some pretty good ice cream and really amazing cakes and cookies. We found this one place (actually right next store to the ice cream shop; no, we did not go to both in the same day) that only 2 or 3 people could be in a time; the shop was probably 7’ by 7’, but size does not tell all because it had the most delicious little treats. I had a chocolate mousse cake and Jeremy had a marble cheesecake and when we finished we really just wanted to have about six more pieces each; the other group that had gotten some snacks before us went back in and got more. It seemed like a trend, the best of Tarifa can be found in these tiny, hole-in-the-wall shops.

Our second day in the windy city, we decided to go rock-climbing. This probably would have been the perfect place for me to finally learn how to kite surf, but the winds were just do intense; it was not place for a beginner and was even too dangerous for the non-beginners. I will learn one day. So we found a place called the Girasol Outdoor Company that is owned by a very nice German couple that speak English and Spanish as well. It just so happened that Chris was available to take Jeremy and I out that afternoon at 2 p.m. I think we lucked out because Chris had just gotten back from an overnight sailing trip to Morocco and was booked completely the next day. We got to do 4 different real climbs. The 3rd was probably the most intense because it was about 18 meters, which I believe is a little over 50 feet. It was crazy; there were a few moments when I did not think I was going to make it to the top, but in the end I pushed through and did it! It probably took me 25 minutes and then Jeremy went and flew up the wall in I believe 8 or 9 minutes and made it look like a joke. But I was still proud of myself because it was something pretty different for me, and even though I have done some indoor walls and the tower at camp, it is definitely not the same. Jeremy then did a lower level lead climb where you don’t have the rope holding you up; you climb a little and clip the rope in, but if you fell you would still fall a foot or two; he said it was pretty scary even though it was a much smaller wall. It is definitely something I would love to continue doing and get better at.

I am realizing now that I think Jeremy and I were the only people to venture down to Tarifa during our stay so I think many people missed out, but I think a lot of people enjoyed Sevilla, Granada, and Cordoba as well. Tarifa is the kind of place I enjoy spending time, where there is a lot of activities, but is also is very relaxed. Anyways I think those are the highlights for our four days in Spain. Overall I think Spain is a country I will keep coming back too for years to come; there is still so much of the country that I do not know and I would love to get to know. Maybe next time I can get up to the north, maybe see some running with the bulls in Pamplona, or check of the university city of Salamanca, or relax on the Balearic Islands. I would love to get back to Barcelona as well since I don’t remember everything and I don’t think I got to enjoy it to the fullest. But for now I will close the computer to Spain and open it to Morocco. Hasta Luego!

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