Primer Viaje!

Hello Everyone!

This past weekend was a 4 day weekend due to the “Fiesta National de Espana” (National Festival in Spain) and thus I decided to take my first trip outside of Almeria.  Me and another girl from orientation who is teaching in Chipiona (by Cadiz)met in Malaga, Spain.  

She had Friday off and I still had to teach, hence I arrived late at night after 7 hours on a bus!  We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Cien Monteditos (100 Sandwiches).  They have 100 different types of sandwiches that are from 1-2€ a piece.  It is delicious and cheap!  You also get a large beer for 1€ if you order a sandwich.  I got 4 sandwiches (they are small) and a drink.  We have decided that on future trips, we will always have to have a meal at Cien Monteditos if there is one in that city.  After that we hung out at the hostel until bedtime.  Our hostel was very cheap and we were in a room with 8 other beds but only two were filled that night.  In the middle of the night one of the girls cried/screamed for about 5 seconds and I jolted up because it scared me.  However, she seemed to just have been dreaming … needless to say it was an interesting night sleep.

The following day was rainy L However; we proceeded to walk around the city after buying umbrellas.  Couldn’t let a little rain stop our vacation.  We went to the Picasso Museum and the Cathedral before eating tapas at a few different restaurants for lunch (although this is normally done in the evening, tapas).  The Cathedral was very similar to the one in Sevilla and once again I might be getting Cathedral-ed out.  They all start to blench together after a while and look the same.  However, I tried to appreciate it.  At the Picasso Museum, I also am not one to understand art but it was interesting to see over 150 different pieces of his work.  We also made friends with a Germany woman who was in Spain for 2 weeks. 

After the Picasso Museum and Cathedral, we walked around looking in the different souvenir shops but not yet buying anything.  We then went to “Café Central” for dinner.  A place suggested in the Lonely Planet book that was pretty good, although for dessert I was craving “Churros con chocolate” and they some how did not have churros even though they advertised them.  Lol.  I was slightly disappointed. That night it rained all night but we woke up to the sun !

The following day it was sunny little cwe visited the Alcazaba and Castillo de Gibralfaro.  Alcazaba was an old palace for a Muslim governer.  It was beautiful to walk around the outsides and the many gardens that flooded the building.  Castillo de Gibralfaro was also a castle that acted as a lighthouse and a military barracks.  However nothing remained of the inside so we simply wandered around the walls outside.  It is placed VERY high on the top of the mountain and overlooks the entire city as well as Alcazaba.  There were many gorgeous sights from these heights!  The climb up to the walls was very steep and I could definitely feel it in my knees the next morning.  

After our walking journey’s through the castles of Málaga and its history, we decided to enjoy a little sun on the beach even though it was around 4pm.  First we stopped at Corte Ingles (the famous store that has everything!) to grab a bottle of wine.  We finally made our decision on some cava and began to move on to the snack section … less than 2 minutes after we left the wine section we heard this loud clank and the sound of water flowing everywhere and bottles falling.  We ran back to the wine section and saw that right where we were standing not even 2 minutes ago, the ceiling from above had fallen through due to a pipe bursting or something like that as water was flowing from the ceiling all over the place and knocking bottles over!  The smell was AWFUL and we decided next time we need to make faster decisions so ceilings don’t fall!!! 

We then proceeded to the beach before heading back to the hostel to change for dinner.  The day before while wandering around the small streets we found a restaurant with a flamenco show on Sunday nights and decided to go.  That night we had dinner at a yummy restaurant and watched a flamenco show!  Good meal/end to our vacation.  Later that night we headed back to the hostel to enjoy some cava while we chatted with some people in the hostel from Scotland.  They were very nice and I liked hearing them talk as their choice of words are so different.  For example …. “a wee bit” and “toilets” instead of bathroom/washroom.  The following morning my friend left real early and I had to get up with her because I had turned off my phone and thus didn’t have an alarm.  I then headed off to a café where I had a cortado and tostada con tomate.  I have come to love tostada con tomate.  This is toast with a tomate paste that seems to be mashed tomates and olive oil.  Very yummy and good!  I then walked to the bus station and waited for my bus for two hours and then headed off back to the town of Vera.

Today is the National Festival in Spain and hence nothing is open so I went to the beach this morning and now simply trying to figure out what to do with my time!  That was my first weekend trip and I am excited to begin another week of work!!  Love the little kids and them saying “hola sena” “Hello teacher” all the time J

Besos,

Julie

PS.  Pictures are not uploading correctly ... will hopefully have them up soon!  Sorry!