Belg-YUM

First weekend trip sola was a success! Although travelling alone you're never really alone, and you meet more cool people than if travelling with a friend. I also realized that it was my first time on a plane since I arrived from the USA. Wow. It seemed that I travelled a lot this year, but all within Spain apparently.

I flew out of O Porto early Friday, which required me to spend the night there. Luckily one of my Gallego classmates lives there now so I was able to stay with her. After arriving in Brussels, I met a Portuguese girl and we grabbed lunch together and then parted ways-- I was headed to Brugge via train. In the train station I met two Mexican guys who were also trying to go to Brugge. Travellers stick together! It was double fun hanging out with them because it allowed me to practice my Spanish, even if I found their accents pretty hard to understand. But they said my accent is notably from Spain, hoho!

Brugge is certainly a beautiful little city. Because of this reputation, however, it is loaded with tourists. Seriously, the tourist population outnumbers the actual residents. I don't know how they stand it! The language of Brugge is Flemish (like Dutch), which I know nothing of. I wrote down some key phrases, pero igual all the hospitality workers spoke English. Sometimes it seems unfair to me that people (such as myself) have English as a native tongue when it's used as an international language. We have such an advantage over others who have to study it as a second or third language. But I digress. Friday we took in the charming buildings on foot, and tried some Belgian beers. My new chums had to leave that night for Brussels, how sad. Belgians eat dinner at an earlier time than Spaniards, so when I was hungry around 9 I opted to get fries smothered in ketchup at a little fry stand (indeed on this trip I tried all the typical Belgian foods apart from mussels). I enjoyed my fries outside to the music of the belfry. I don't think they do it every night, but there happened to be a sort of concert of bells, after which the tiny man (because he was so high off the ground) waved to his adoring audience. 

Saturday I explored Brugge a bit more with some Americans from my hostel. Not as entertaining as the Mexicans! For breakfast we had a waffle with 'the works' --chocolate syrup, strawberries, and whipped cream. It was almost too sweet! I also spent my last hours there perusing chocolate shops. So many to choose from! Unfortunately most of my purchases melted. In one place I bought 3 truffles for 5 euros! That could've gotten me 5 Milka bars! I also watched lollipops (I assume) being made. 

Back to Madrid

Labor Day weekend (first of May), a few of us went to Madrid to celebrate my best chum Lauren's birthday. For some reason (perhaps the company kept or the sites visited) I enjoyed Madrid much more this time around, compared with my trip three years ago. Mola visitar.

The first day we saw sights such as the ayuntamiento city hall and

Parque del Retiro. Unfortunately the line to rent a boat was ridiculously long, so we just soaked up the sun.

The second day we saw some more parks, the palacio, and probably other stuff. At night we went to a flamenco show. The place was really out of the way, so we assumed it would be "authentic" but in reality the audience was all obvious tourists--including a group that would not shut up during the performance. At the beginning we had to control ourselves not to laugh, because it just seemed so ridiculous. During the show there were some intense moments, the dancers were certainly expressive. Anyways, I think I'll save future flamenco for when I'm in Andalucía (autonomous community known for flamenco).

The third day we took a little trip to Alcalá de Henares.  It's a pretty and small city a short train ride from Madrid. Our friend lived there a few years ago, so she was able to show us around. We saw Cervantes' rebuilt house. Miguel Cervantes is perhaps the most well-known Spanish writer, notably author of Don Quijote.

The next afternoon was our bus back, but before that we went to El Rastro, a great big market held every Sunday. They had so many cool things, it's probably for the best that we were short on money and time. Next time I will be more prepared to shop...

2nd Visitor to Galicia

As part of my adventure-packed Semana Santa, my French friend came to Galicia for 48 hours. And according to the Clash, 48 hours needs 48 thrills! Given the short amount of time, I'd say we saw a good amount of Galicia.

Day 1 we went to the beach in Arteixo, a small city near A Coruña, because he's never seen the ocean. Then we headed further south along the Costa da Morte ("Coast of Death" thanks to many a-shipwreck taking place in the region) until Fisterra. It's the most western land in continental Europe, dubbed "the end of the world" by Romans. At night we (my English speaking amiguiños and I) showed him the "wild" Lugo nightlife. Not really wild, but he did get to try some specific Galician and Spanish drinks and tapas.

Day 2 found us travelling to the North coast, specifically the beach of As Catedrais. I've been there before, but it's magnificent rock formations were certainly worth another trip. We also stopped in the town of Viveiro (I think...) to walk around.

Day 3 was a brief tour of A Coruña, although we didn't even make it up to the Tower of Hercules due to time constraints. That's alright though; it leaves plenty to do for the next visit.

Semana Santa

Throughout Spain during Semana Santa and especially on Good Friday, religious fraternities have processions with giant floats featuring Jesus, Mary, and other holy folks. I was suprised to see about as many people lined up to see the procession as there were to see the cabalgata of the 3 Kings-- because those guys bring presents and throw candy, but Good Friday is solemn. Lugo capital isn't well-known for their processions. Maybe it's because there was only one float that was actually carried by people; the rest were rolled. Nonetheless, it was impressive to someone who's never seen such a thing. The participants can be slightly scary at first since they look like a cult-- more specifically, the KKK, except with colored robes and hoods. But if you don't think of them as such, it's nice. Some carried crosses, but most just walked in 2 files. There was also a group which looked to be traditionally-dressed women in mourning.

I'd like to add that on the Spanish schedule fasting isn't really so bad. Because they usually have lunch later in the day to hold them off until dinner which is soon before bed.

West Coast, best coast

I declare that this week I'm seeing more of Northern Spain (well, Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria) than I've seen all year. Especially the delightful natural attractions. The day after returning from our Girls Roadtrip, I took a day trip with my friend to Galicia's west coast.

First stop: The ruins of Catoira. Centuries ago, Vikings entered the area via a river leading to the ocean, and being Vikings, pillaged and desecrated the place. Now the town has a famous Viking festival each summer where citizens dress up as Vikings and come in on big boats to burn down the makeshift village (already been added to my festivals to attend list, fret not). When we went there were two Viking ships in the port that you could board in addition to three ruined buildings. Nifty.

Next stop: As piscinas do Río Pedra. Another natural beauty, with yellow flower- and tree-lined hills on either side of the river. The giant rocks create miniature waterfalls which flow into swimming-worthy pools. It's understandably a big hit during the summertime. Despite the heat when we went, the water was too cold for my taste. We did traverse upstream which required walking barefoot in the water. I only fell once, and not into the water, so overall it was a good experience.

Third Stop: Castro de Baroña. Approaching it from the woods, the small, walled peninsula with remains of circular rock houses looks mythical.  I can certainly understand why the Celts chose this place for their village. It's got charming beaches on either side, is on a cliff that meets the ocean, and has a good view of the mainland where enemies would come from. Perhaps my favorite place we visited that day.

Is it Atlantis? Nay, it's Castro de Baroña!

The remains are only a few feet high because people
would take the rocks for their own walls

Next Stop: A beekeeper's workshop. This part was like visiting a honey museum, except personal and with free samples. I (more or less) learned the steps to making honey and tried about 10 varieties--to get different 'flavors' he leaves the bees by different types of flowers. My favorite kind was chocolate honey, and he even gave me a jar of it. Stellar! Not really a honey fan, but can't resist chocolate goodness.

Final Stop: As dunas de Corrubedo. I was actually not too impressed by this park. Although now it is better guarded and there are signs that warn a 60-600 euro fine for walking onto the dunes, before people apparently used to drive their cars right up into the dunes and thus would have to push them back out. The dunes used to be bigger and more impressive, but it seems that because of their misuse they've shrunk. So by now it just looks like a sandy hill leading towards a beach.

Picos de Europa: Or the 7 Natural Wonders of Northern Spain

Oh the wonders I have seen! This weekend on our Girl's Trip to Picos de Europa in Asturias and Cantabria, I honestly believe I've seen what should be considered the Seven Natural Wonders of Spain...or something like it. Incredible views both in the mountains and on the beach-- and on beaches surrounded by mountains. At times I felt like I was on another planet with the interesting rock formations. On the drive home we stopped at about four beaches, which might have been excessive but every time we got out to explore, I was left more impressed and intrigued than by the last. Obviously we're not talking about just sandy beaches, but ones with sick rock formations and little grottos. Since between the four of us we probably took 500 pictures, instead of writing I'm just going to include a plethora of photos. So if your computer is slow, you might just wanna skip this post. :) However I will say that after passing through many a-town, we would all say "If I had a country house it would be here" I've decided on the ideal: Cangas de Onís for during the week, and then San Sebastián or another coastal city for the weekends.