Some highlights on the things I've done since the last time I wrote:
1. Ronda! A couple of friends and I took a bus to Ronda, a city about 2 hours away from Sevilla, for a day trip. It's a city that's on the top of a mountain so it was really neat. The bus dropped us off at the top, obviously, and we walked down this trail so we could see the whole city above us. It was really awesome. There is a famous bridge that is huuuuge that connects the 2 parts of the city. A long time ago when they didn't have running water, slaves had to climb down 200+ steps to get to the river that is at the bottom of the mountain. We walked down the steps (it was really dark and wet and hard to see) and went to the bottom of the mountain to see the river. Quite the workout. Ronda is definitely one of my favorite cities in Spain, it is absolutely beautiful!
2. Warmth! It is sooo warm here now that the rain is gone. Right now it's about 75 degrees... beautiful! Whenever I come home and comment on how warm it is outside Pepi looks at me like I'm crazy. This weather is still really cold for them. It's wonderful to be able to sit outside and enjoy the weather instead of lagging around an umbrella praying it doesn't rain.
3. Valencia! Last weekend a couple of friends and I rented a minivan and drove to Valencia for their festival called "Las Fallas." The drive took about 7 hours both ways but it was totally worth it. The view was really cool the whole way there and it was fun not having to take public transportation for once. We camped out at this nasty trailer park-type place (it was supposed to be a beach, but they lied to us), but it was still a blast. The festival basically consists of local artists making these huge paper statues, a contest on which statue is the best, and then setting all the loser statues on fire. It was probably the biggest/hottest/coolest fire I will ever see in my life!
4. Family!!! My mom, dad and brother Sam arrived last week Monday. I went to the airport to pick them up so they wouldn't look like idiots trying to find their apartment in the mess of streets that is Sevilla. It turned out that they missed their flight from Madrid to Sevilla, so I waited about 4 hours for them in the airport. Thankfully they were on the next Madrid-Sevilla flight. The apartment they rented is really nice... really close to the University, and it isn't too far from Pepi's house either. I had exams the week they got here, so they did a lot of sightseeing on their own. We went to tapas, a flamenco show, the cathedral, Alcazar, and Italica... Thursday I finished classes (spring break!), and on Friday we all went on a day trip to Granada. Since I've already been there and it's a pretty small city, I was their tour guide there as well. This morning, Krista finally joined us in Sevilla! We tried getting her to see the cathedral since it will probably be pretty busy during Semana Santa (Holy Week), but it was closed so (naturally) we went shopping. Semana Santa starts on Sunday, and there are crazy parades going on all week in the city. Pretty excited to see that, it should be interesting. This week we plan on going on day trips to Cadiz and Gibraltar... hopefully that works out!
The fam leaves Friday morning at 7am, and at 10am I leave for a weekend in Lagos, Portugal. It should be an exciting spring break!
Besos,
Emily
Pictures #1-5: Ronda
Picture #6: Our wonderful "beach" accommodations in Valencia... haaaha good joke
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