In Málaga, I went with my interest group to a spanish national park called el Torcal de Antequera. It involved once again driving a bus up a winding road to the top of the mountain. I wasn't really sure what to expect from the trip, but it was more beautiful than I could have imagined (despite the less than perfect weather). The park was created by the glaciers and it had a bunch of cool rock forms that I had never seen before. We had a guide to take us through the trails and we climbed up really high! It was my first hike in the mountains, and it wasn't easy! It rained the night before (second time it has rained during almost 2 months of being here), and everything was muddy and slippery. You would have to take a couple steps, then pause to actually get to look up and see all the beautiful scenery. I packed a sandwich and got to have a short picnic on the mountain too.
A lot of the rocks looked like pancakes!
A little bit of the blue sky
Standing in a cloud
It really wasn't that heavy...
You could see little fossils all over the rocks!
It literally started pouring ten minutes after we got back from our hike. Perfect timing! I would love to go back to el Torcal because the views looked incredible during the few times we got a peek through the clouds!
On Saturday I went to Cádiz with my program. Cádiz is a cool city that is basically a peninsula surrounded by water. It is also argued to be the oldest city in Europe. It is also where the first constitution was signed in Spain in 1812 (so this year is a celebration year in Cádiz), when Cádiz remained the only city in Spain that wasn't conquered by Napoleon and the French. We just went for the day and got to enjoy the ocean and check out some cool castles and cathedrals. The city was very much like a lot that I have seen during the semester, just with more of a beachy feel because of the Atlantic ocean being on all sides.
Here is the beautiful cathedral in Cádiz
We climbed to the top of the tower
Here I am up top getting some great views of the city
For me, what made Cádiz special was the food. A combination of fresh sea food and sweets made for the perfect day of eating. Hard to describe, so I'll take you through a photo tour of Cádiz cuisine! We got to tour a market and also go out to eat.
They had a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables
Here is the shrimp or "gambas" that I love so much
Swordfish...
Just a view of some seafood they were selling.
The shells that are in the bottom corner were everywhere in the market!
I love the spanish language for many reasons, and this is one of them:
The stores are named by adding a "ía" to the end of what they are selling.
Seafood is called "mariscos" so this is a marisquería. Genius.
There are marisquerías all over Cádiz!
Another example is a "librería" is a book or "libro" store,
not a library!
These are the tapas I tried.
They are called "tortillas de camarones"
They are hard to describe, but almost like a homemade tortilla chip,
but with little shrimp and other seafood or spices added.
One of the most traditional spanish dishes is the "tortilla de patata"
This is similar, but it is distinct because they don't use potatoes or "patatas"
This ice cream changed my life. Seriously so good!
Last week my friend had me try a "Kinder" bar, which is
a popular candy-like bar in Spain. It is made out of wafer,
chocolate and nutella (my new favorite flavor is hazelnut)
This was Kinder bar ice cream and it was so delicious!
Especially eating it under the sunshine surrounded by palm trees
Our guide told us that we should try "pan de Cádiz"
We went to a bakery and the woman working had run out, so she
called the other bakeries around the plaza to help us find some!
It was such a cool act of kindness, and such a spanish thing to do
Then finding the pan made it even better!
Our search led us to a cute bakery in the plaza by the cathedral.
Pan de Cádiz is a mini loaf of bread, but really soft and doughy with
candied/dried fruit in the middle. It was absolutely delicious!
Here I am with some chicas enjoying our pan!
Both trips this weekend were a blast! It was the perfect amount of travel, and I love that I get to see so many different parts of Spain--mix of the mountains and the ocean this weekend gave me more appreciation for the beauty that you can find in the world. Being in Spain has made me realize how much I love being outside. Even on a more laid back day, I love to just go for a walk by the river or through the parks in Sevilla. It helps that the weather has been perfect since coming here too!
This week is the last week of class before midterms. In Madison I would have started by studying by now, but hey it has been seventy degrees with plentiful sunshine so here I say studying is overrated! Hope all you Minnesotans are enjoying the winter weather that finally decided to show up!
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