Sunday, February 20, 2011
Malaga
A couple weeks ago I went to Malaga for the first time with Lola and her family. They have a super-nice, pristine new piso there in Torrox. The weather was great and for the first time in awhile I was able to enjoy some sunshine. I even borrowed a bikini from Lola and went in the water a little since I had never step foot in the Mediterranean before. I only went in to the waist because it was a bit cold and I still have plenty of time to swim in the Mediterranean as the weather is starting to warm up a little. If I had to describe the temperature of the water, I would say it was the equivalent of Lake Chelan at the beginning of the summer or Lake Crescent at the end of the summer. It numbed my legs a little but coming from Washington, THAT I am accustomed to.
We had a really nice, relaxing weekend with lots of good food, some good wine and nice company. I enjoyed all the food they cooked for me in their piso and the 2 times we ate in restaurants I enjoyed it as well. Lola and Antonio took me to Salobrena(pronounced salobrenya, but I don't have the ~ over the n ability) where we saw another castle in an all white, quaint and bright little pueblo on a hillside. We also went to Nerja which I really found to be beautiful. I made a video of Nerja because it has a charming vibe to it and the water there is really transparent and I wanted to capture it better with video.
We also enjoyed some beautiful Mediterranean sunsets like I always dreamed about seeing. But the best part was how patient they were with my Spanish. Lola and Antonio were constantly asking me if I understood things okay. They also taught me lots of words and ways of saying things to write down in my little notebook that I always carry. All in all it was a fabulous, relaxing weekend.
Hiking Through the Sierra Morena
Also I have been feeling a little gorda since Christmas and also have felt that my life has just gotten too physically easy. I still jog but anyone who knows me knows that I love to workout, hike, play sports, etc. I have been really lacking that feeling of physical exertion but didn't exactly realize what it was that I was missing. And of course its my own fault...its not like they don't have gyms here or don't have trails, etc., but I was just kinda following what the people around me were doing which was to live a more sedentary life. Well, screw that!! I am done. I do not feel good living that kind of lifestyle...I need to feel physically challenged once in awhile damn it!!
What I also loved was the fact that the countryside in Cordoba right now is super-green due to all the rain we've had this year and reminded me of home. I miss the soggy, green, wetlands of western Washington. Like this summer when I would take the kids from Cedarbrook tromping through the woods in Port Hadlock. I would have to help all of them cross a river by stepping on rocks or walking over slippery fallen logs. Minus all the ginormous slugs, I loved that part of the job. But anyways, most of you already know all of that...so on with the story, no?
So, there's a hiking club here in Spain where you only pay like 5€ a month and then can sign up for these different routes in the area and pay a lesser fee. I am not a member so I paid 9€ to go on this route and it was well worth the cost. They provide water, an apple, a good sized sandwich of York ham and cheese and an orange slice soda. We all met at this park, they gave us each a t-shirt with the name of the club and we headed out. It was foggy when we left at 9 am, which I enjoyed but then the fog lifted, which I also enjoyed, and we had ourselves a perfect day.
What I liked most about the route was that it took us through a variety of different terrain. We got to cross many creeks, climb up some steep hills, see some horses and bulls, and take some breaks in some beautiful meadows. What I noticed about the countryside of Spain thus far is that even the dirt seems cleaner. I can't exactly explain except that in Washington you get super dirty and muddy and here even when you touch the ground you really don't get that dirty. Its strange. In certain parts I could see where fairy tales could have been made. Especially when you see a whimsical horse standing by a brook surrounded by tiny wildflowers, something out of the movie Princess Bride almost. And at the bottom of the hike was a little white pueblo where we stopped in true Spanish-style and had a cerveza. Then, when I got home from a long day of hiking I ate a nice hot bowl of lentils like any good daughter of a hippie would do :) Anyways, enough babbling...here are some pics from my hiking adventure. Thanks Mari Carmen for bringing me along.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
El Festival Medieval
This Mid-Evil Festival was killer!!! I had so much fun there over the course of three days. It took place in La Corredera which is right next to my apartment. So everyday I made my way down to the festival. There were tons of interesting foods..everything from strange meats hanging, to candies, to dried exotic fruits, giant loaves of artisan breads, hot wine served in a horn, sangria with dry ice and fruit in it, to Galician-style octopus and much, much more. The music was amazing too with lots of bagpipes, strange stringed instruments, drums, whistles, tamborines, and more. It was fun walking around checking out all the crafts and I also LOVED the costumes. Some of them were down right scary while others looked like they were out of a Lord of the Rings movie. And they would come through the crowds in parades dressed all crazy on stilts while playing instruments. I told Irene and Juliana that I was glad I was an adult seeing this because I honestly think as a child I would have cried because of all the people dressed so creepy and elevated on stilts. As an adult I found it super-fun and interesting!!
A Day in "el Campo"
These pics are from back in January when I spent a day in el campo (the country) with Olga, Francisco, Maria and Alberto. I teach English to Maria(didn't get a pic of her) and Alberto once a week. They are both great students and will end up fluent English-speakers when they are adults. The family is going to Australia to live for six months starting in June which will really take the kids to the next level with their English.
Anyways, so our day in the country was sunny and super-relaxing. The house you see here was designed by Francisco and is their country house, whereas; they also have a really beautiful house in town and a house on the beach in Malaga. This particular house has no electricity so Olga doesn't like to spend a lot of time there because she gets cold. Spaniards are so used to their wonderful climate that they get cold pretty easily.
The day we spent in the country consisted of tinto de verano (a mixture of red wine, soda and lemon), olives, potato chips and a super-thick Spanish tortilla. I think Olga's tortilla is the best one I've tried so far. That day we also tried to catch their new mare that was still scared of her new owners and home. We failed to calm her down that day even with some prompting with food. She was just too skittish. We also shot a bow and arrow, took a little walk down to the lake and ate acorns that had fallen from the trees. It was a nice, relaxing day. Muy tranquilo!!!
La Cabalgata, January 5th, 2011
I forgot to post this video from the holiday season. This is the parade the night before the "Los Reyes Magos" bring the presents to everyone on January 6th. They do celebrate on Christmas Eve as well with a big dinner but January 6th is when they celebrate more like how we would celebrate Christmas in the U.S. with presents, family and food.
Monday, February 7, 2011
El Rio Tinto, Huelva
I kept saying that this river looked like a river of blood. Maybe because I come from the "Twilight" region of the world. I don't think they liked it as much as "tinto" which is also what they call their wine. So, I will stick with what they say and show you the river of wine. It owes its color to the concentration of iron in this area. Makes for some great pictures thats for sure. Hope you enjoyed!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
