On Friday, my parents, Sam and I took a day trip to Granada to see the Alhambra and the city. I had already been there, so I was able to guide us around with little difficulty. I definitely didn't mind seeing the Alhambra again... it's such a pretty place! I was also really glad I was able to find the gyro/kebab stand that my friends and I had eaten at on my previous trip!
Krista joined us the second week my family was here, and Sevilla was starting to prepare for Semana Santa (Holy Week). Semana Santa is a big deal in most Spanish cities but Sevilla is the city that is most famous for its holy processions. It is so hard to describe what Semana Santa in Sevilla is like to someone who hasn't experienced it... but I will try. Every church in Sevilla has a huge "paso" or platform which is decorated with a religious scene, real flowers, and a ton of other decorations. (The most popular religious images are obviously Jesus and Mary). Each platform is carried from the church to the cathedral and then back to the church... and each procession lasts probably around 12 hours, with thousands of people following and/or watching it, and each day about 8 different floats go to the Cathedral. The people involved in the procession are dressed in uniforms that look like KKK (making it a rather eery procession for American viewers) and they cover their faces to remain anonymous. Half of these people stand (in a loooong line) before the platform and carry candles, and the other half stands behind and carries large wooden crosses. There is also a band that follows the procession and plays music throughout the day. It is crazy busy in Sevilla and since our apartment was near the Cathedral we were always trapped around processions, making it extremely difficult to get anywhere without having to take hour-long detours. There were a lot of processions that we were able to watch right out of our apartment window, so that was pretty neat.
With Krista, we did a lot of the same touristy stuff that my parents and Sam did the first week. One thing that I really enjoyed doing with them was seeing a professional flamenco show. I had taken them to a bar that has free flamenco dancing, but the dancer that was there every night we went was an overweight, not-very-feminine woman who was cranky and yelled at the crowd a lot. They decided they wanted to spend the money to see a real flamenco dancer, so I took them to a place that I had gone to with my program. We all really enjoyed it. The family was also able to meet Pepi and I think they all really liked each other. My dad, of course being Mr. Social, kept trying to talk to her even though she doesn't understand one word of English.
We also went on a couple day trips while Krista was here. The first one was to Cadiz, a city on the western coast of Spain that is known for its beaches. We were planning on swimming in the Atlantic Ocean and relaxing on the beach, but it ended up being cold and windy leaving us with not a lot to do. We walked around and tried getting into some museums, but they were all closed on the day we went (probably because of Semana Santa). We were all pretty bummed out that the weather wasn't the best, but still managed to take off our shoes and walk in the ocean for a little bit. We also took a day trip to Gibraltar, a UK territory which is located on the southern tip of Spain. We rented a car, which was actually cheaper than a bus and gave us more time in the city... our trusty GPS got us lost and we ended up making the tour we arranged to be a part of wait 30 minutes for us to get there. It was literally like the amazing race... speeding on the highway, frantically trying to find a place to park, jumping out of the car and SPRINTING to get to customs (it's a good thing you just needed to hold up your passport as you walked, or in our case RAN, through). We finally found the tour bus and were able to relax. In Gibraltar it is illegal to go up the rock of Gibraltar unless you are a resident or part of a tour, so thank god it didn't leave without us. As we went up the rock we stopped at different points; the first one was a spot that has a view of Africa to the left, Spain to the right, and the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. It was really awesome, especially being that close to Africa (I realllllly want to go there now!). We stopped at another spot where you could walk inside a cave. It was cool, but I had already seen a really similar cave in Aracena. After the cave, we were able to play with monkeys! This was probably my favorite part of the trip... the monkeys were sooo cute, especially the baby ones!
After my family left, I spent the last weekend of spring break in Lagos, a beautiful city located on the southern coast of Portugal. We had a hotel that was literally a 30-second walk away from the beach and we were lucky to have really nice weather. I spent the entire weekend relaxing and soaking up the sun next to the Atlantic Ocean... it was wonderful! One of the days we were there, we took a sailboat on the ocean and got to go explore some of the caves, which was really neat to see. Another night we went to the most south western point of Portugal (and in all of Europe) to watch the sun set. The place we went was a cliff surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. It was sooooo beautiful but extremely windy; the wind was so strong that it would make rocks fly up in the air and hit us in the face! But I literally think it was the most beautiful sight I will ever see so it was totally worth it. I definitely fell in love with Portugal on this trip and have a strong urge to go back again and see more.
Spring break is now over and it's back to school for me, which shouldn't be too difficult since we have another spring break in a week! Yesterday I went to my first bullfight. I was really really nervous because I don't handle violence and blood well, which basically are the two words that best sum up a bullfight. I was surprised to find that I actually didn't mind it that much. There were about 6 or 7 different bulls that were killed, and the first one I saw was really disturbing but after that I think I was kind of numbed to the event. The atmosphere is so strange, it almost feels like you're in a different century... It's just surprising that stuff like this is still going on in the 21st century. It was definitely an interesting experience though. I'm also really surprised that more bullfighters haven't died doing this. There were 2 close calls during the event where the bullfighters were almost screwed: one guy dropped his red flag and had to jump over the wall so the bull didn't attack him, and another guy tripped after he stabbed the bull. I would prefer to not see another bullfight, but I might go back if Evan wants to see one when he visits.... we'll see.
Hope all is well in the States! Sorry to hear about all the snow, I'll be sure to soak up some sun here for all of you. Hehe....
Emily :)
Picture #1: In Granada, the Alhambra
Picture #2: Krista, Sam and I in Sevilla... "with Spain in the background"
Picture #3: during a Semana Santa procession
Picture #4: me and Monica the monkey in Gibraltar
Picture #5: standing in Gibraltar (the UK) in front of Africa (left) and Spain (right)!
Picture #6: Mom, Krista and I in front of the Rock of Gibraltar
Picture #7: Natalia and I on the sailboat in Portugal
Picture #8: on our cave tour in Lagos
Picture #9: at the most south western point of Portugal (and Europe) watching the sunset over the Atlantic
Picture #10: at one of the many beautiful beaches in Lagos
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