Scotland

Thursday, April 28-Monday, May 2

For my last long weekend of the year I went to Scotland with Kimzey. Both of us have a Scottish family history so we were excited to go there discover more about our heritage. We arrived late Thursday night to Glasgow. It is the second largest city in Scotland, more industrial and less touristy than the second city we would go to: Edinburgh, which is the largest city in Scotland.

Day 1: Friday, April 29: We had the whole day to walk around and explore Glasgow. We started off on the west end of the city where we visited the Glasgow University and the Kelvingrove park, which were right next to each other. The park consisted of lots of beautiful green grass areas and many paths for running, walking and biking.

The University

The Calvingrove Park

We then took a break for lunch on a street with lots of cute cafes. There, we had our first pot of tea along with a fresh sandwich.

That afternoon we headed to the east end of the city. It was quite a long walk and along our way we passed through the down town area with all the shops and restaurants on a nice pedestrian street. On the far east end of the city was the oldest house in Glasgow and the Glasgow Cathedral. The house has been created into a museum with all of the typical furniture from the time. The Cathedral is under renovation from the outside but we were still able to go inside.

The Oldest House in Glasgow

The Glasgow Cathedral

That evening, we were able to meet some young locals from Glasgow which was a lot of fun but we realized their accent is almost impossible to understand when they are talking to each other. It is like another language.

Day 2: We had the morning to walk around the down town area of Glasgow before catching a bus to Edinburgh. It was about an hour bus ride so we had most of the afternoon by the time we got there. After checking into our hostel we walked back into the center of the city by cutting through the University which is absolutely beautiful. We then visited St. Giles Cathedral.

St. Giles Cathedral

After seeing the Cathedral we passed the Scott Monument which is a big tower you can climb and in the same area is a big open park with many people hanging out there.

The Scott Monument

We then climbed Calton Hill on the northeast end of the city. It has some monuments and beautiful views of the city from all sides. From the top you can see the water, a mountain and the whole city.

The Royal Palace and Holyrood Park

Day 3: We had the whole day to explore all of Edinburgh. We started off by visiting the Edinburgh Castle since it is probably the most famous tourist site in the city. It is enormous with lots of little museums of the history of Scotland. There were also some great views of the city from the castle.

The Entrance

The Esplinade

After visiting the castle, we walked down to the Royal Palace where we climbed a small mountain in the Holyrood Park (which is the name of the palace.) It was a beautiful hike with lots of green land and a little bit more of a hike than we had predicted. It was everything I had imagine Scotland to be like. Unfortunately it was a little hazy from the top but still a good view.

That evening we went out with two people we met in our hostel; one from Spain and the other from England and had a great time.

Day 4: We caught a bus back to Glasgow the next morning followed by a bus to the airport.

It was a wonderful trip. We were lucky to have such sunny weather for the whole weekend however, I am still shocked with how cold it was for the beginning of May. Everyone there thought it was summer while we were bundled in our jackets and scarfs. If we could do the trip over again we probably would have spent less time in Glasgow and tried to make it up to one of the Locke's but maybe next time.

Semana Santa with Tarenne!

Semana Santa: Friday April 15-Sunday April 24

For Semana Santa (Holy Week), which is the week leading up to Easter, I got the chance to travel with one of my best friend's from the United States, Tarenne Farenchak, who had come to visit me in Spain for almost 2 weeks. Semana Santa is a big, week long celebration in many parts of Europe but more importantly in the Andalusian region of Spain. There are big, long processions in the streets every day leading up to Easter to honor all of the different virgins in just about every city and town in Andalusia. Since Semana Santa is so big in this region of Spain I wanted to do some traveling through Spain and experience it all.

Day 1: Friday April 15: It was Tarenne's first full day in Spain and we decided to make the most of it by taking a day trip to Seville. Seville is the capital and largest city of Andalusia and only about an hour to hour in a half train ride from Cordoba. We caught an early morning train and returned that evening. We spent most of the day in historical center of Seville where we visited the Alcazar which is a palace with lots of beautiful gardens and look out points.

We then visited the Cathedral which was at one point a Mosque that has been reconstructed. There is a large tower (La Giralda) connected to the Cathedral with 35 stories of platforms which we climbed and saw some nice views of the city.

La Giralda

View of the city with the Plaza de Torros (Bull Ring)

After having lunch we visited a beautiful plaza and park called Plaza de Espana. It is made up of an impressive architectural building with ceramic tiles in the form of a semi circle and two astonishing towers with a fountain in the middle and a park that surrounds this area.

Lastly, we visited The Torre de Oro (The gold tower) along the river which was at one point a Military Watch Tower.

Day 2 + 3: Saturday April 16 and Sunday April 17: Before starting our excursion along the southern coast of Andalusia we spent two fulls day in my city of Cordoba doing all of the typical touristy things along with experiencing our first procession. On Saturday we ventured into the historical center of Cordoba where we visited the two most famous sites: The Alcazar (similar to the one in Seville) and the Mezquita (Mosque) which is one of the few that still exists today in Europe. Even though I have already seen the Mezquita a few times before it still impresses me each time I visit it again.

The Alcazar

The Cathedral inside the mezquita

The Mezquita in its' original form

The Court yard of the Mezquita

We then spent the afternoon walking around the Juderia (the Jewish quarter) This area is made up of many narrow small roads which are easy to get lost in and have many touristy shops and restaurants along with old buildings and apartments. One of the few remaining synogogues in all of Spain can be found here as well.

On Sunday, we enjoyed our first Andalusian processions in Cordoba. I was impressed with the amount of people who come out and see them every day.

Day 4, 5 and 6: Monday April 18-Wednesday April 20th: We left early Monday morning for Cadiz which is a small city and port along the southwestern coast of Spain. My friend, Laurel, also came along with us for our trip to Cadiz. When we arrived it was a little windy and gloomy so we spent most of the day walking around and exploring the city. We visited the new cathedral right in the center of the city where we were able to climb one of the towers which gave us some great views of the whole city.

The New Cathedral

The view of the water

We then enjoyed some fried fish for lunch in one of the plazas followed by a walk down to the ocean where we visited the castle right along the water.

The Castle

For dinner, our hostel cooked us some delicious paella.

The weather on Tuesday was also a little rainy and gloomy so we decided to take a day trip to a small town outside of Cadiz, Puerta de Santa Maria, to visit a sherry winery which is very popular in the Cadiz province. The name of the Winery was Osbourne. The tour was great and at the end of the tour we were able to try three different types of sherry which we had learned about on the tour. While trying the sherry we met a group of older Spaniards at out table. They were a lot of fun and it was great getting a chance to talk to them.

On Wednesday before catching the bus to our next destination we took a walking tour through the city where we were able to learn some history and background about some of the sites we had already seen. The weather was finally nice but a little chilly and it was great to be outside seeing the city again with some sun.

The Market

The other side of the castle

The entrance to the castle

That afternoon we took a 3 hour bus ride to Marbella which is a small city and port along the costa de sol. We arrived early evening and enjoyed a nice dinner recommended to us by the owner of the hostel followed by a night time walk through the city.

Day 7: Thursday, April 27: We took a day trip from Marbella to Ronda which is about an hour bus ride up into the mountains known for its "pueblos blancos" (white villages). Unfortunately it was such a rainy day so we weren't able to enjoy the city as much as we would have liked. Our ride to Ronda was a little frightening, it was so foggy that we could barely see out of the bus as it was making many steep, sharp turns.

Once we got there we made our first stop to the bull ring which is the oldest bull ring in all of Spain! Here, there is also a museums with the history and origins of bullfighting.

Outside of The Bullring

After having lunch we walked to the Puente Nueve (New Bridge) which overlooks a canyon. From here is a beautiful views of all of the mountains and typical white Andalusian houses in the background. It was such a great site that I wish we could have explored it more but than it started down pouring and we had no choice but to get the next bus back to Marbella since we had no where stay. If I ever have the chance to go back, I definitely will have to go

to see more of this natural beauty.

Day 8: Friday April 28: We had until early afternoon to continue exploring Marbella before heading to our last destination. We spent the morning walking down to the ocean where we walked along the water and then we visited an outdoor Dali Exposition which just consisted of several different sculptures on one of the main walkways from the ocean to the city center.

The Dali Exposicion

Before heading back to our hostal we walking around some of the plazas in the center of the city, visited the main church and saw the old roman walls which surround the center of the city.

The Plaza de Naranjas

The Church

The Roman Walls

That afternoon, we left for our final destination: Nerja. Nerja is a small city on the eastern end of the Costa del Sol. It is seriously a hidden gem with such beautiful look out points of the water with rocks, mountains and the white villages in the background. There is a big pavilion called "El Balcon de Europa" which provided the best views of the water and scenery. We spent the afternoon and evening walking along the water. The weather was a little hazy and rainy so the views weren't as good as they would be the following day.

Playa de Carabeo

The View from Balcon de Europa

That evening we were able to watch a procession from the balcony of our hostel.

Day 9 and 10: Saturday April 29 and Sunday April 30: Saturday was finally a perfect beautiful sunny day! We were able to enjoy most of the day on the beach that the Balcon de Europa over looked. The water was very cold but it was nice to relax and spend some time laying on the beach. Before heading to the beach, we took advantage of the beautiful clear day and walked along all the different beaches.

Playa Burriana

Balcon de Europa

Sunday was Easter and we were able to spend the morning and early afternoon in Nerja before heading back to Cordoba. It was another nice day. We were able to see one last procession in the city center. We then headed back to Cordoba. Despite, the rain it a great, successful trip with lots of great sites. I am so happy I could spend it with one of my best friend's from the United States!