Saturday, December 25, 2010

My Spanish Christmas...

NOTE: Written December 25, 2010 but posted January 6, 2011.

I had one Christmas present request this year and I got it:


That is Rachel and I at arrivals in the Malaga airport last Sunday, minutes after we hugged each other for the first time in over 4 months. It was a pretty awesome moment.

Since last Saturday Rachel has accompanied me to school and watched me "work," as well as go with me to the academy where we had a Christmas party with the kids. That was a lot of fun and the kids were excited to meet my girlfriend and talk with another native English speaker.

Rachel also got the chance to meet my Spanish friends--we went out for tapas at one of our favorite spots on Monday night. Great time had by all.


On Tuesday morning we made our way to Granada where we walked around and went inside the Cathedral. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside, but here is Rachel standing outside of the impressive church.


Although the weather really didn't cooperate for us while we were in Granada, we did get to the Alhambra. Check it out.






It was my second time visiting it so I was able to get Rachel around to see the more impressive parts. We still ended up being there for over 3 hours (Rachel said she could have spent all day there if it hadn't been raining and cold).

We headed back to Motril on Wednesday night where we connected with Emily and her boyfriend, Connor. They had had a long day traveling, Connor from the States and Emily an overnight bus to Madrid to meet him. Rachel and I made dinner for them, ate, and then finished packing for our remaining adventures: Christmas in Algeciras, Seville, and then Barcelona.

Thursday afternoon we headed off to my uncle's in Algeciras. It is an incredible drive that takes you between the coastal mountains of Spain and the Mediterranean and when we stopped for lunch Rachel wanted a picture.


We arrived in Algeciras and relaxed the rest of the day.

Friday afternoon we hopped in the car and went for a Christmas Eve day drive. We headed down towards Tarifa, where my uncle took me when I first arrived in Spain back in August. We found a public beach access and enjoyed the beach.




After exploring the beach we headed into Tarifa to find a tapas bar for lunch. After walking around we chose a place right in the center of the historic district of Tarifa. It was packed with locals and with it being Christmas Eve Day they were creating a rather festive atmosphere in the bar singing and dancing. Rachel and I enjoyed the people watching and took in the experience. I wanted Rachel to try some seafood so we ordered fried calamari and fried fish. Both were delicious. After lunch we returned to my uncles. But before we stopped at my favorite lookout and took one of my all time favorite pictures of Rachel and I.



We spent Christmas Eve with my aunt and uncle, my cousins Daniel and Christopher, Christopher's girlfriend Natalia, and my aunt's parents. We didn't have the camera out but we enjoyed a feast of an assortment of tapa style dishes, a large ham for the main course, and then some flan for dessert. Spectacular.

Christmas morning Rachel and I slept in a little late and made it downstairs around 11. Daniel had already been up for over an hour and was enjoying all kinds of new toys. Once we made it down we continued to open presents. After opening presents we just hung out the rest of the day. Pretty relaxing after a rush-rush couple of days traveling to Granada and a nice slow pace before we start our adventures in Sevilla and Barcelona tomorrow.


Merry Christmas from Spain!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

London.

After having my flight leave Malaga on time and arriving in London ahead of schedule I was hoping to be to my friend Lauren’s flat by 1 am. However, this quickly changed when I found myself waiting for the night bus to take me to her flat for over 30 minutes; I ended up not arriving until almost 2. I quickly crashed on the pull-out sofa bed she had prepared for me in the living room, but before I did that I set my alarm for 7 AM, only 5 hours later. Why? This is why:


Day 1: Stonehenge, Day Planning and London at night.

After what felt like 15 minutes of sleep I woke up and within 30 minutes Lauren and I were out the door of her flat and on our way to Victoria Station, the main subway and bus station in central London, where we were meeting her friend Natalie and catching the bus to Stonehenge. However, with my late night of traveling and Lauren’s late night of staying up waiting for my arrival, a Starbucks stop was needed. It was the first time in over 4 months where I actually walked around with a coffee, because that is unheard of in Andalucía (people always sit down for coffee time—you will rarely see someone carrying a coffee around or even eating while walking around in Andalucía).

The subway station after Starbucks was another adventure. The pace of life in Andalucía is very slow—people are never in a hurry and it is very laid back. London, not so much. First, I thought I walked fast, but trying to keep up with my friend Lauren was a challenge. Not only that, but I felt almost a little culture shock walking around Victoria Station and on the subway—I was a sardine. However, we eventually arrived to the station, met Natalie, got on our bus, and were off to Stonehenge. An hour and a half later we arrived. Enjoy the pictures!




There isn’t a lot known about Stonehenge. Its’ history is as much of a mystery as how people over four-thousand years ago were able to stack several ton stones on top of each other. Yet, that adds to the mysticism of the site. The bus allowed us to be at the site for an hour, and really that’s all the time you need. It maybe Stonehenge, and one of the Wonders of the World, but it is only rocks. After our audio tour we hopped back in the bus and returned to London.

Upon our arrival we grabbed some lunch and returned to Lauren’s flat. Lauren was going to meet her uncle, who was in town on business, for dinner, so I decided to start planning out my 2-day adventures around London. I made an itinerary and estimated the amount of time I would spend at each place. I then decided that it might be cool to go check out part of the city at night (because by this time it was 6 pm and dark). I bundled up, found a bus to Westminster, and took in some of London’s most famous sites all lit up. Enjoy some pictures.





After walking around for over an hour and taking several pictures I returned to Lauren’s flat and decided to call it a night—Saturday was going to be a busy day running around London and I needed some rest.

Day 2: Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Winston Churchill Museum

After waking up at 9 and getting to the London Tourist office to pick up my London Pass at 10, I made it to Westminster Abbey around 11 (there was a long line at the office to pick up the pass…). This was later then I wanted, and with an ambitious Saturday itinerary that contained the Abbey, St. Paul’s and the Tower of London I knew I was going to be cutting it close.

However, I wanted to enjoy the Abbey, because it is one of the most iconic churches in the world. It did not disappoint. Note: you are not allowed to take pictures inside the Abbey, so I apologize for not having any. However, if you want to see the inside of the church watch Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in April.

Upon entering the Abbey I quickly stepped on the resting place (the entire Abbey is an indoor cemetery, with most people being buried underneath the floor of the church and there being large flat headstones everywhere) of one of my favorite figures in history, William Wilberforce, whose incredible story is told in the movie “Amazing Grace.” For the next two hours I walked around the Abbey, seeing the resting place of many other famous people as well as past kings, queens, and prime ministers of England. Not to mention the infamous “Poets' Corner” is located in the Abbey, the resting place of writers such as Chaucer, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling (there are also several memorials to other writers and poets). Two other men who are relatively famous are also buried in the Abbey—Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin, have you heard of them?

Although I couldn’t get any picture inside the Abbey itself, I took some of the Cloisters as well as a few more shots of the exterior.




After a successful tour of the Abbey I made my way east until I arrived at the U.S Capti—eeeh I mean St. Paul’s Cathedral. This Cathedral has dominated the London skyline for centuries and was actually where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married. It is famous for its‘ enormous dome (similar to that of the U.S Capital building in DC) and atrium.

However, what were even more impressive were the painted ceilings of the church. Again, pictures were not allowed, but they were incredible.

I was also able to get a little bit of a workout at St. Paul’s. You are able to climb a series of steps to get to the Whispering Gallery, which is located inside the famous atrium directly above the center of the main room of the church. It is 259 steps to this gallery. However, there are also two outdoor observation decks directly below and above the dome. The first is another 119 steps up, known as the Stone Gallery. However, if you want more steps you can ascend the final 152 steps to the Golden Gallery, which gives you an incredible 360-degree view of the city. Enjoy these pictures from both outdoor galleries.





After quickly walking around the crypt in the basement I made my way back out onto the streets, snapped a few more pictures, and ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was almost 4, and already getting dark—Tower of London was not going to happen today. Instead, I opened up my London Pass guidebook and decided that Winston Churchill’s Museum and War Rooms would be a good final stop for the day.

I took the tube back up to Westminster and found the museum. During World War II this underground complex was where Churchill and his war cabinet ran the British side of the war. With it being a secret underground complex it was an incredible bunker that kept Churchill and his cabinet safe through the Blitzkrieg and allowed for them to meet and discuss important war strategies.

I did not take any pictures because, unfortunately, my camera’s battery had died, but it was an excellent museum that had reconstructed how the underground bunker would have looked during the war, and had an excellent museum on Churchill and his life.

By the time I finished walking around the museum it was 6, and Lauren’s uncle had graciously invited me to dinner with the two of them around 6:30. However, I made one more tourist stop at Wellington Arch, snapped a picture, and then went off to an excellent Italian dinner with Lauren and her uncle. Day 2 complete.


Day 3: Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Bridge, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery

Tower of London was one of the places I wanted to go to on Saturday, but I was unable to make it because of the premature darkness that hits London around 4 pm and the fact that I had read that you need at least 3 hours at the Tower (it closes at 6). So, this was the primary destination for my Sunday adventure.

However, I took a quick detour early Sunday morning to the famous Buckingham Palace. I had another tourist snap a quick picture of me, I took a few pictures of the square and the Palace, and then I was off to London Tower.





Tower of London's history is rich—throughout history it has served as a fort, a palace, a prison, and a storage site for artillery as well as the famous Crown Jewels. It is now one of the most visited sites in all of London.

I started my visit by taking a tour with one of the famous Beefeater guards. These guards occupy the Tower and even live on site with their families. I learned that the requirement to become a Beefeater is 25 years of military service, and then you need to go through a gruesome application process.

The tour was only an hour and gave me a basic understanding and history of the Tower. After, I bought an audio guide and began my own tour through the tower. The main part of the tower is known as the White Tower, which was built by William the Conquer in the 11th Century. Since then an enormous complex has been built around this original building. The White Tower now serves as a museum that has several floors of medieval armor, weapons and other artifacts instrumental to the complex’s history.

The famous Crown Jewels, which include the world’s largest diamond at over 530 carats (Note: Wikipedia refutes this statement saying it is the second largest, but I was told it was the largest flawless cut diamond in the world) are also located at the tower in one of its building. They are kept in an enormous vault that also contains other royal artifacts. These include the coronation crown and several other coronation artifacts (the things used in the actual crowing of the king and queen of England). Again, pictures were not allowed inside the vault. Sorry. Here are some of the complex though.





After completing the 5 separate audio tours and just over 3 hours of walking around I departed the Tower and headed straight for Tower Bridge, where I bought some roasted peanuts and nonchalantly crossed the bridge. Upon arriving on the other side I followed the Thames west past the HMS Belfast, a World War II gunship and up to what is now called London Bridge, which I crossed over.




I then made my way to the nearest tube station and headed back up towards Westminster. After the Tower of London I planned to head to Wembley Stadium, home of England’s national soccer team, but it was a ways north of the city, and I decided to stay central. At this point I ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in front of Big Ben and called my friend Helena, who was another teacher I worked with in Honduras and who is now studying at university in London. We decided to meet for a drink around 5:30, and with it being 4, I had some time to burn.


I decided I would head to the famous Trafalgar Square, which is the Times Square of London. The square was decorated for the holidays and with it being dark I really wasn’t able to capture everything. The square is home to the National Gallery, one of the larger art museums in London. I decided to get out of the cold for an hour and walk around the museum’s 60 plus halls of paintings. From Van Gogh, to Renoir, to Monet and Manet, to Michelangelo to da Vinci, it was a pretty impressive collection. After an hour I made my way to Oxford Circus, London’s most famous shopping district, where I met Helena and enjoyed catching up for an hour. After a drink I took off to connect with Lauren and her friends who were having dinner at a Korean restaurant.

After dinner we grabbed some gelato, and then made our way back to Lauren’s flat. I needed to wake up at 3 am to catch a bus to Victoria Station and there catch the 4:30 am train to Gatwick Airport for my 6:30 am flight. All went as planned except I ended up having to walk 30 minutes to Victoria Station from Lauren’s because the night bus drove right pass me at the stop. This was okay because I enjoyed my late night walk through London and it gave me the opportunity to see the city one more time.

After my flight I arrived in Malaga in time to catch the 11 am bus to Motril. However, with only one ticket window open, both of the automatic machines out of service, and 20 plus people in front of me in line, I missed the 11 am bus and had to settle for the next one 2 hours later.

I sat in the bus station, sipped a coffee, read, and waited. Consider the weekend seized.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

SAT Comparison


A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with Alfonso, the history teacher I work with at La Zafra, about the Barcelona versus Madrid soccer game. He asked who I was going to cheer for and I told him how my rooting interests depend on what the rooting interests are of my students. I went on to tell him that my students in Honduras were all big Barcelona fans, so to have fun with them and spite them I told them I was a Real Madrid fan (this was actually true, however, after paying closer attention to the players on both teams after living here in Spain, and the attitude of those players (cough Ronaldo, who is a punk) I am beginning to become a Barcelona fan…). I then talked about how I thought it was interesting that the students in Honduras followed Spain so closely, and how when I even asked some of my students where they wanted to go to universtiy many of them said Spain (rather than the United States). Alfonso and I then discussed why this was, and it was a pretty simple answer: Honduras was settled by the Spanish and was a Spanish colony for a couple of hundred years, Spain is their culture (fused with the native’s culture too), and their “motherland,” if you will. Because of this my students in Honduras felt a special connection to Spain and had almost a romanticized view of the country.

Spain is to Honduras as Great Britain is to the United States, making my visit to London this weekend that much sweeter.


I have been “busy” this week and have been trying to recover from my crazy weekend of seeing London, so I haven’t been feeling too motivated to sit down and write an entry. However, my plan is to pass my time on Saturday by writing about my adventures (Saturday is going to be a very long day since it is the day before my lovely girlfriend Rachel arrives here in Spain… I will need something to pass the time…)

So, look for a detailed post this weekend!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

This weekend.

So, London tomorrow. I have conveniently already written a post about my travel plans. Just add 7 days to each day mentioned in the post.

Check it.

Catch you all when I get back.

Monday, December 6, 2010

No London? No Problem.

Well it might not have been London but it was a pretty fantastic weekend.

Real quick, regarding London, I think it was a blessing in disguise that my flight was canceled Thursday night. My fight was canceled Thursday night because of weather, however Friday afternoon hundreds of flights were grounded around Spain because of a strike by the air traffic control employees. This has made national news, and at one point a friend of my mine stuck at the airport in Malaga set her Facebook status to “Spent another day sitting around the airport and not going anywhere. Air traffic controllers are being escorted back to work at gun point on threat of arrest.” What a disaster.

Anyway, on to my great weekend.


View Larger Map

Saturday Michael Lynn and I traveled to the nearby costal town of Nerja. It is more of a tourist town and actually attracts a lot of European vacationers (especially from the UK). This is where my parents are staying when they come in March, so it also gave me a chance to scout it out.

We first went to one of the main attractions in Nerja, its’ caves. They are a spectacular series of caves that were discovered in the mid 1900s and have been under archeological excavation since. They have found several bodies as well as several cave paintings within the caves. However, none of those (other than one skull) were on display, and we got the tourist tour of the caves. This was all right because the size of the caves were enough to blow you away. In fact, one of the caverns is so large they have turned it into a underground theater with seats and a stage, big enough to fit a couple of hundred people. There was going to be a concert there later that night. Enjoy the pictures! (They are tough to see, because, you know, they were taken underground…)





After the caves we made our way into the town of Nerja and explored the streets and beaches. We had run into a group of friends at the caves and ended up meeting them for coffee after walking around for a bit.

One of the main attractions in Nerja is called Balcon de Europa (Balchony of Europe). The story goes that King Alfonso the XII visited Nerja in the 1860s and at this site boasted that he had found the balcony of Europe because of its spectacular view of the coast and the Mediterranean. The name has stuck and it’s now a nice plaza with some pretty awesome views. Check it:






After walking around Nerja a little more we headed back home. A successful Saturday of exploring.

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While we were in Nerja, a teacher at Michael Lynn’s school called her and asked if she wanted to go to the Apujarras with her and her husband on Sunday (evidently they'd been trying to plan a time to do this). Michael Lynn agreed and asked if I could join, which her teacher said I could.


You see them?

Las Apujarras is a region north of Motril that runs along the southern boundary of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It is a very mountainous region that has an incredible backdrop of the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas. The Moors populated the region during the 800-year rule of the Moorish Empire in Southern Spain and they lived as refugees in these mountain communities even after the fall of the Moors in Granada in 1492. In fact, it wasn’t until after several Christian excursions into the mountains and 150 years later that the Moors were finally kicked out of the Apujarras. Yet, almost after a millennia of occupying the region, their culture is ingrained in the “pueblo blancos” (white villages) that dot the mountain sides. From the food, to the clothes, to the architecture, it is an excellent representation of the Moorish culture.


View Larger Map

Michael Lynn and I were lucky enough to be given a small tour of Las Apujarras by local Spaniards. We met them at 11 and were quickly off driving along the curvy roads towards and into the mountains. We stopped at a small restaurant for a glass of locally made wine and a tapa, and then continued up the mountains to one of the more popular Apujarras towns, Pampaneira. We walked around this town for a little bit taking in the local culture and architecture. It is one of the more popular towns in the Apujarras, and with it being a long weekend here in Spain (national holiday on Monday), many people had flocked to the mountains for the day. After walking into a few shops and buying some locally made chocolate we hopped back in the car to drive further into and up the mountains. We eventually made our way to the Trevélez, Spain’s highest village. Here we had a tremendous lunch of bread, tapas, salad, and a main course. Pictures? Pictures.





After stuffing ourselves we walked around the town. This proved to be incredible as we were given awesome views of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains, but also got the chance to walk around another typical Apujarra village. Enjoy some pictures.







By the time we finished walking around the village the sun had crept across the sky and behind the mountains and it was beginning to get dark. We hopped in the car but stopped one more time at a place called Fuente Agria, which is small stream whose water contains iron and is naturally carbonated. The water is said to be good for you (prevents liver and kidney disease), thus people from around the area stop by to fill up water jugs and to try the water. Yet, it isn’t exactly enjoyable to drink. I do not like tonic and that’s what it tasted like, tonic water with a hint of metal. After trying the water and taking some pictures we began our long, curvy mountain drive home.

Another successful day.

Another successful weekend.

Next? London.

Catch all of you later.