Kathryn's Visit, Extremadura

My friends,

Let me just start this by saying that I sympathize with the people who lack blog consistency - it's only been about a week since I have legitimately blogged and I already feel a little bit overwhelmed.

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Kathryn's Visit

Kathryn came and visited me this past week in Spain. She sacrificed time with some of her best friends and her senior spring break to come see me. I can't even explain how much fun I had with her. We realized later that our time in Spain was actually the longest we've ever spent together at one time since dating.

Because we did a multitude of things during her trip, I'm going to break it down piece by piece...

Mijas

Kathryn arrived Thursday, and after a quick walk around Spain and meeting Gracia for the first time, we planned our trip to visit Knox and his girlfriend, Anna Marie, in Mijas. We originally planned to leave around 11, but after feeling jetlagged and lazy we decided to take a train to Málaga that left at 1. From there, we would take a local train to the city of Fuengirola, and then a local bus from Fuengirola to Mijas (simple enough, right?). To make a long blog post a little shorter, we'll summarize it like this - we missed our train, the next train to Málaga (and every train after until 8:30) was completely full, so we took a bus that left at 6 p.m. We finally got into Mijas around 10:30, grabbed a drink and caught up with Knox and Anna Marie. We toured the small town the next day before embarking on our next adventure to Nerja.

Mijas.

Nerja

I had read great things about Nerja, a small coastal city on the Mediterranean and only a short (and cheap) bus ride from Málaga. So this time, Kathryn and I flared from Mijas to Fuengirola, Fuengirola to Málaga, and Málaga to Nerja... except we didn't initially make it quite to Nerja. Emotions optimistic due to our apparent success, I thought that the bus was stopping at beautiful Nerja - a town on the coast that had a few shops and a great view. Kathryn and I walked on the beach, looked at potential ice cream shops for the following day, and even got our picture taken. We figured it was time to find the hostel that we'd be staying at for the night, and when I asked a man where the hostel was, he responded, "it's in Nerja. This is Torrox."

A view of the Mediterranean from Torrox del Costo.

Kathryn and I in Torrox del Costo (not Nerja).

....uh oh! Just our luck, we were in the wrong city. That's what you get for being cocky and thinking you understand the Spanish bus system, huh? We went shopping for some necessities - 2 loaves of bread, a pack of cheese, Coca-Cola, a grande water bottle, strawberries, nutella, and some chips - took a 6 minute bus ride to Nerja and finally settled in at our hostel.

Kathryn's optimism and smile throughout everything really helped keep me going. It's tough on a man's pride whenever you are hosting someone in a different country and things don't go as planned, but she kept encouraging and reassuring me that everything would be fine.

Chocolate croissants and grande water bottles. Thankful for this girl's happy and positive attitude.

The next day, we relaxed with a picnic on the beach in Nerja and ate the first of many ice cream cones.

Picnic in Nerja.

Beautiful Nerja.

Sevilla

One of my favorite parts of Kathryn's visit was eating meals with Gracia. Kathryn studied abroad her freshman year for a month in Costa Rica, so she definitely knew some Spanish, but it was a little rusty. I think Gracia really enjoyed having another female around, and Kathryn loved trying Gracia's home-cooked meals and fresh bread - she even took a baguette back on the plane with her!

Throughout the week, we saw the sights of Sevilla, including Parque Maria Luisa, Plaza de España, the Cathedral of Seville, and La Giralda. We enjoyed food ranging from a local tapas bar, Rayas ice cream (rumor has it that it was voted the best ice cream in Europe), a bar on the roof of a 4-star hotel, a local Spanish coffee shop, and... a little more ice cream.

One of my favorite spots in Sevilla: Plaza de España.

Kathryn and I at Plaza de España.

Touring the Cathedral, admiring La Giralda.

A few of my favorite moments came near the end of the trip:

Flamenco

Two nights in a row, Kathryn and I visited La Carboneria, a local flamenco bar. Cover charge was free and the atmosphere couldn't be more authentic to Sevilla. Flamenco is definitely one of the more original parts of Spain, especially Sevilla, so it was a lot of fun to show Kathryn the dancing, singing, and wonderful guitar playing that the small, run-down bar had to offer.

Viva la flamenco.

Flamenco, night 1.

Bike Tour

One of the ways that Sevilla excels at channeling its inner hipster is by having one of the coolest city bike systems in the world. For about $30 per year, citizens can rent a bike card. The card gives you access to rent a bike at any of the 700 different stations within Sevilla, and (as long as you return the bike to any station within 30 minutes) you aren't charged anything extra. Kathryn and I took advantage of this by borrowing one of my friend's bike passes and exploring the city on two wheels. We went all over the city, and ended the night with a night ride through the park.

Riding through the park at night.

Best bike partner around.

Convent Sweets

Spain's Catholic roots make the presence of monasteries and convents much more common. Nuns in Sevilla earn their living by selling sweets at their local convents. Kathryn and I experienced buying convent sweets together the day before she left. The process is very original and almost archaic. You arrive at the convent window, where all you see is a lazy Susan and a list of sweets and prices next to it. After ringing the bell, a nun greets you from behind the window, though you can never see her face. You simply order, put your money on the lazy Susan, and moments later the lazy Susan returns with a bag of delicious homemade sweets!

The lazy Susan (accompanied by the saving Jesus).

Magdalenas del convento. Amazing.

I felt so fortunate that Kathryn could come visit me. I was once again reminded how amazingly blessed I am to have such a great girlfriend, and how much fun I have when I am around her.

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Extremadura

The morning after Kathryn left, my solemn thoughts quickly shifted to excitement about yet another excursion that I would go to with API - a weekend excursion to the state of Extremadura.

Unlike our other excursions, Extremadura had more of a "natural" emphasis. It started by us viewing some Roman ruins in the city of Mérida, where we saw an incredible theater and amphitheater. We traveled to the city of Guadalupe that night, where we toured and stayed in an incredible monastery, complete with a five course inclusive meal for dinner. Staying in a monastery - go ahead and check that one off the bucket list!

Ancient Roman theatre, Mérida.

The monastery/hotel that we stayed in our first night in Guadalupe.

Yesterday, we went on a 5 hour hike through the mountains in Guadalupe. The views were breathtaking, the weather near perfect, and the memories made were priceless. Last night we stayed in the city of Trujillo, and toured a 9th century castle this morning before heading back to Sevilla.

A few views from the hike.

Anything is possible!

Castillo de Trujillo.

I think that this weekend was my favorite excursion yet primarily because of the hike, which makes me even more excited to strap up the Chaco's for Mount Teide in a month.

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I remember reading Jane Eyre in high school. Halfway through, I lost interest and sought out Cliffs Notes to help me retain sanity. For those of you who are like me, here's the summary of the past week and a half:

I'm crazy about my girlfriend. She's pretty neat. Spain continues to be so fun.

Just trying to prove that I'm not an inconsistent blogger,

Brad.