Sav´s travels

Feliz Año Nuevo!

I hope everyone who has stumbled upon this entry had themselves a great New Year! And, I hope someone out there has made the resolution to visit this part of the world!

New Year´s in Spain was a treat...I wasn´t searching for the biggest party in the country but what I did have is what was probably a truly Spanish way of celebrating the new year...a dinner with friends, in lieu of family for the first time, a bag of 12 grapes to eat with the 12 strokes of the clock, and a sunrise with sleep not coming until noon the next day... The last 4 or 5 days have been incredible here...on December 30th, I spent the day in the amazing city of Sevilla (15 degrees!)taking it easy and wandering around the town and absorbing the festive feeling throughtout it...family and friends were out until late, as always, generations of people sharing their time together and looking like they are having a great time doing it. The next day we took a train to Jerez de la Frontera, close to the east coast in southern Spain, and bided our time in the hotel room with friends until New Year´s came a little closer...unlike what I am used to in Canada, it isn´t the norm here, as far as I can see, to get completely drunk BEFORE 12:00am and barely be able to make it until the chimes start...the hours leading up to the start of the year, here, is at home having supper and then everyone comes out about half an hour before midnight and continues on until the sun comes up. So, that evening arriving in Cádiz, about half an hour away, at around 10pm or so, we had a Chinese buffet, being the only place open, and then headed to the little bar/cafe across the square to celebrate with some drinks...my night really started here...being one of the only places open it attracted everyone who was out and about...people from places like Canada, the US, Belgium, Morocco, and I am sure many more places, were all there and we all cozied up to the bar to chat and get in as many drinks as we could to help ease the feat of grape-popping! We were here for about an hour and then moved into the incredible square to await the countdown...if you ever make it to Spain, please visit Cádiz...maybe because it was New Year´s and you could feel the energy in the air, it automatically made it feel a little more special,I´m not sure, but walking into Cádiz at night felt like some sort of Wonderland...the city hall was particularly grand, but seeing the Cathedral felt a little other-worldly...here is a link of a beautiful and well-known view of it from the sea-wall...http://www.arba7muz.ru/images/Cadiz.jpg...here is another photo of the beautiful Plaza Flores, close by...http://www.geraldbrimacombe.com/Spain_Portugal/Spain%20-%20Cadiz%20-%20Market%20&%20Old%20Telegraph%20Bldg..jpg...it smells as good as it looks!

After the clock struck and we got a bunch of very unflattering pictures of ourselves with 12 grapes stuffed in our mouths, we headed back to our bar and I waited anxiously for my work mate from Edmonton and her husband, Juan, to come and meet us...I was lucky to have them here...great company and as he is a native from this area he was able to show us the hidden and not so hidden gems of the city and tell us stories to go along with them...such as if you go under the cathedral to the underground tunnels, they go right up to the Atlantic Ocean and you can hear the waves pounding against the walls of the tunnels...how amazing would that be?? Also, if you remember, and who could forget , in "Die Another Day" the Bond film with Halle Barry, when she comes out of the water in "the orange bikini", this whole scene was shot in Cádiz where we watched the sunset the next day...all along the beach and in the old beach house from the 20´s or 30´s they shot some of the movie...a bit of trivia for you Juan and Lindsay brought their friend Carly out with them and at the "end" of the night, around 6:30 or so, we went back to his apartment where he brought us to his rooftop terrace and we could see down the winding streets on 3 sides, and also the spires and domes of the old Moorish and Christian architecture...people watching from here was great too...down on the ground was like playing dodge-ball...trying to miss broken glass or at least not get seriously cut (here you can drink outside and not get thrown in the drunk-tank, they actually have a name for it here it´s so commom...it´s escaping me though) and the hundreds and hundreds of very well-dressed young and old people out to have a good time...the mood was amazing...spontaneous flamenco, laughing, lots of PDA...a great thing to witness. In the morning, at about 7:30 or so I guess, we went on a hunt for what Juan said was the best Chocolate Churro place in town...unfortunately, they weren´t open so I "settled" for a chocolate croissant and cafe con leche...from here was a walk around the city a little, to see it in the day (still very fantasy-like) and then off to catch the hour long train ride back to Jerez. I didn´t get to sleep until noon and then got up again at about 4 determined to find food that didn´t consist of cheese, chocolate, or just coffee....this hunt went on for about 2 hours, and grumpy with blisters whining and my stomach even more against me, I had almost written off Jerez as being one of the only places that I hadn´t fallen in love with in Spain until I realized we had spent 2 hours disoriented and on the industrial outskirts...we found the downtown and all was well again! We had copious amounts of (bad) food and more beer and eventually made our way back to find sleep. January 2nd was a day that falls into the Top 10 of my times here...Juan and Lindsay had invited us to meet them in a little town called San Bernardo and we hopped the train to go meet them. They pulled up in their car and Lindsay jumped out of the car with a drink in hand ready to continue the fun! I didn´t realize that it´s okay to have open liquor in the car...as long as the driver is being good, it´s quite alright...so we started the day with some Manzanilla, a kind of sherry and went to meet Juan´s family at the best little tapa bar in Spain...a little story before I go on...two August´s ago, when Lindsay and Juan were married in Edmonton, his family had come out of course to be there...during the party afterwards, I was dancing with Juan´s father, and while I was, my strapless dress slipped and well, I gave the in-laws a peek and a bit of a show! So, embarrassed thoroughly, I was vaguely relieved that I would probably never see them again...time does not forget all things! The first thing I was greeted with by his family, and all in good fun, was a little bit of reminding about this...all the drinks and wonderful food were free that day! Also, some of the gentleman there seemed to think I looked like Kylie Minogue(??)....more drinks I think the reason this day stands out to me so much is because it captured the essence of the acceptance, the easy-going nature, the love of family and life that many Spaniards live by and display to others. We moved from one tapas bar to another in this beautiful little town and were outside in the warm sun laughing and eating and drinking the never-ending sherries, wines and cervezas that came our way...I had the chance to meet many of his side of the family and really they were all fun and wonderful people. Juan´s dad even offered to build me a dance studio so that I could come here and teach...I hope he remembers this down the road

Later on a few of us headed back into Cadiz and this is where we watched the sun set on the Atlantic...the history of the military, the Moors and of course Mr.Bond himself were all around us and it was quite something to be there for .... that evening we went back to Jerez and met more of Juan´s friends for a night of food and wine before my body quit and sleep was in order...purrrr....the following day was our last in Jerez and doing what is essential when in the Sherry Triangle region of Spain, we went on a bodega tour of Gonzalez Byass Bodegas...essentially what this means is that we drank sherry for breakfast....sigh, home will be hard to adjust to...but the tour was fascinating and although we only got one of the tours of the many different bodegas in this region, it was very representative of this area...and the name Tio Pepe, will be something that I search for at home, this is for sure...from here, we rented a car and did a road-trip across Southern Spain...I think in hindsight, I can feel justified in getting a T-shirt that says, " I drove in Spain and lived to tell about it"....I have heard stories from all over the world of bad or just plain erratic and crazy driving, but I can´t imagine how so many people do it and live!? Edmontonians, traffic circles are a piece of cake in our city I´ve learned! It was the best way by far to see the country...when we saw a road we wanted to take, we took it...we figure we averaged about 10 km´s an hour on this trip with the amount of stopping we did...I took about an hour of footage on a friend´s video cam and about 60 photos that day...the wine/beer is on me at home if anyone is interested in seeing it! We even caught on tape our mini accident with a set of stairs and a wall on a very narrow winding road...the extra insurance was well worth the extra 40€´s...we ended up actually visiting two towns, Arcos de la Frontera where we had a picnic in the sun and maybe the most incredible vista I have seen yet here... (http://www.highonadventure.com/Hoa98jun/Arcos/arcos.htm)...check out this website if you can...it shows you why Arcos has the well-deserved name of being the premier pueblo blanco!! After this, while we were driving, I spotted a town in the distance that I believe is the inspiration for all fantasy stories yet to be written, Olvera...really from the distance, it looked like some ancient town you would see in a movie like Lord of the Rings...here are some picture links...

http://www.exodus.co.uk/pictures/avah.jpg

http://www.tristeyazul.com/pueblos/olvera01.jpg

http://www.property-in-the-sun.com/images/Places%20to%20visit/Olvera/olvera_castillo.jpg

And that brings us back to Granada where I await my new passport...

Today was important because I got to meet my half-niece (niece to me) for the first time...it´s not really a story for the blog, but it really helped make my day and my trip more complete...

So that´s it...all caught up and looking forward to spending my last week here in Spain with my sister, my niece and some new found friends...I of course miss home, but as happens with travelling when you spend enough time in one place, have become very, very attached to here and am plotting my return!

take care and if anyone reading this has any questions and are looking to travel particularly around souther spain I would love to try to answer them or at least give you some tips!

Besos,
Savannah