The Rain in Spain Stays Mainlainly in the Plains

Well, my Spanish skills are good enough to roam around Spain without much difficulty, and yet so cluttered in my mind to cause great frustration. I found myself responding to the woman who owned the hostel where I stayed in Granada in Japanese. Not sure whether or not this was related to me befriended the Japanese teen staying in my dorm room or just my inability to keep in order the multiple languages running through my head at any moment.

Spain offers a great variety of ways to spend ones time. I chose to stay in the southern portion of the country near where we came into port in Cadiz. For the most part the weather was fairly nice, a little run and some cold temperatures from time to time, but mostly beautiful autumn weather. I was thankful for all the changing colors as I traveled from Cadiz to Granada, Granada to Sevilla, Sevilla to Ronda, and Ronda back to Cadiz.

Unfortunately, Spain is also quite pricey. Between Croatia and Spain, I think I spent as much as I did in all the other ports combined. It made me realize how much I may need to save up before flying off to Italy this coming summer with AU friends. After being on both sides of Italy along the Meditterranean, I am absolutely thrilled to be heading there for a few weeks come July/August.

My first day in Spain was spent with Meagan (ADSL) and Jonathan and Vanessa (LLL's). Jonathan participated in SAS as a student a handful of years ago and wanted to his partner Vanessa to experience it for herself. So, this is the first SAS voyage where there have been a few LLL's (Life Long Learners) in their early/mid-twenties. We also have an LLL who graduated from Harvard in May and decided to do this in place of studying abroad before starting to work for GE in January. Anyway, the four of us went to Jerez about 45 minutes from Cadiz to tour one of the sherry bodegas. Southern Spain is the only place in the world which produces sherry, a blend of white wines. None of us were overly taken with sherry, but thought their brandy was pretty good. The tour of the Gonzalez Byass bodega was excellent and worth the time we spent.

Day 2 Spain
I went to the bus station in Cadiz to figure out where the first bus leaving was headed -- Granada. I was not sure I was going to Granada at all during my stay, but if that's where the bus goes, so be it. Granada was magnificient! I made my way to one of the streets known to be packed with hostels and pensiones. The first place I stopped was full and the second place I stopped only had a triple open, until some sort of dispute erupted and the owner told me to wait. I couldn't comprehend everything being said as the conversation was between the owner and a Latino youth. However, my understanding is that a young English-speaking woman in the dorm had decided to take a night train, but had not told anyone she was leaving. Suddenly there was an open bed and I was home for the night...Yeah! More fortuitous was meeting an American catholic priest on sabbatical who had spent time working in Guatemala. He gave me some contacts in the area where I intend to be and encouraged me to contact them using his name when I arrived. Having spent two years working in a catholic mission school in Micronesia, I was more than comfortable with the idea of calling up the nuns working nearby.

Day 3 Spain
In Granada I spent four hours on my first morning touring La Alhambra, the largest Moorish palace in all the world. The artistic details on every surface of every structure were awesome. I paid four euros to have the guided audio tour, which was very helpful in knowing anything about what I was seeing. I bumped into several SAS travelers during these hours and ended up going off to lunch with Lara (one of the faculty) for lunch. We found a wonderful outdoor cafe near the river where live entertainment was provided. Each of us chose to get a baquette with different fillings and shared. Light and delicious! We continued walking up to the Barrio de Sacromento, the area of the city where the Roma community (commonly known as gypsies) live. This community was established in the 14th century, when the newly arrived Roma immigrants dug homes into the side of the mountains or lived in caves naturally existing. Unfortunately, the museum depicting the history and lives of the Roma culture was closed when we arrived -- gotta love Siesta -- so we were not able to enter any of it.

Lara headed off on an evening train while I continued to roam about Granada visiting more historical sites and simply taking in the lay of the land. The only other site I spent any significant amount of time was the cathedral. I wouldn't say it is the most beautiful church in which I have ever been, but it certainly was ornate.

Day 4 Spain
I wanted to go to Ronda, the birthplace of modern bullfighting. This particular white town of Andalucia is built over a massive gorge, where they have built a very impressive bridge. I had to travel through Sevilla to get there, so stopped for a couple of hours to see what I could see. It's funny because I intended to spend a couple of days in Sevilla, but it became hours. Traveling this way required me spending a good chunk of time on the bus, but it was worth it to see all the countryside we passed. So many John Deere tractors in these parts! I couldn't catch a photo of them we wizzed by them so quickly, but they were there.

I am so glad I went to Ronda, it was probably the highlight of my time in Spain. I stayed in a small place, Hostal Ronda Sol, where the rooms were described as clean and monkish in guidebooks. I would agree they were monkish, but not overly small, plenty of space for one person. A single only cost me 13 euros -- cheapest price in Spain -- plus I had a sink in my room and a window!

Day 5 Spain
Other than India, Spain was the only port where I didn't wake up in the port city on our last day in country. We encourage everyone to be back in the port city on the last day to ensure they make it onto the ship on time and/or don't miss us completely. Transportation is always a bit uncertain. I needed to catch a 1:30pm bus from Ronda to Cadiz in order to be on time for Gangway Duty that evening. This meant I needed to get up early (something I am not a fan of doing) and do a speedy walking tour of town. Unfortunately, I had left my walking tour map and gloves in the cafe where I ate dinner the night before and being in Spain it did not open until 11:00 am in the morning. So, I had to wing it. Thankfully, this is something I am a fan of doing.

I headed for the area where the oldest bullring in Spain and the bridge over the gorge are located. I crossed over the bridge and took a walk down the mainstreet to see what I could see. Around 9:00am I headed to the bus station to check on the bus schedule and ensure there was a 1:30pm bus as posted. Of course the counters were not open, and I had to trust I would get back to Cadiz. I came upon a Chocolatier shop owned and operated by Sven, a transplanted Belgian. Nothing better than Belgian hot chocolate and strawberry crepes with whip cream for breakfast. I had to follow it with a multi-grain bagette because the sugar overwhelmed me.

After breakfast I headed to the bullring, which opened at 10:00am for a tour of it and the museum. They only have bullfights from spring to October. I am not sure I feel bad about missing one of these events. I don't know how I feel about bullfighting. The bullring was impressive and the museum offered a thorough history of the development of modern bullfighting. They have a training ring for horses, and we were able to watch them work for some time, too. I then returned to my whirlwind history city tour of Ronda, learning about how the bridge was constructed, and so much more.

Thankfully the bus did show up at 1:30pm and I was confidently on my way back to Cadiz.