this is definitely beach weather!

planes, trains and automobiles all over the Basque country

My long weekend in the Basque country was full of spectacular sites, beautiful cities, basically all forms of public transportation and a whole lot of adventure. Going in, I had read about where I wanted to go and spoken with some reliable sources on how to distribute our time, but unlike any other trip it wasn't that planned. I had a hotel in Bilbao the first night and a hotel for us the last night in San Sebastian but that was about it. A friend of mine who I met freshman year at UA flew in Thursday morning, March 18th. I joined him in the city center after my hard day at work. This is a joke because on Thursday, I went on the school field trip to the factory of the largest producer of beer in Spain. That's right, a SCHOOL trip to drink BEER. Only in Spain. It was actually a rather educational experience. The students had to be 18 to go and they are in the economics/business track of the school. This place was such a GIGANTIC operation, I can see the educational value in going. However, the open bar at the end of the two hour tour, was lacking in educational value and resulted in an hour bus ride back with drunk ANIMALS. Again, things like this remind me of how insane this entire experience is. I can't imagine going on a trip to drink beer with teachers and 60 of my classmates at 18. Crazy.

Anyways, Jonathan and I headed to Bilbao that night. Friday morning, I introduced him to cafe con leche and tortilla. He was asking for ketchup. In fact, all weekend I was enjoying his remarks calling attention to something's strangeness that has become my normal. The two beds pushed together in a hotel. A "large buffet breakfast" that is some slices of lunch meat and toast with coffee or tea. The lights on the outside of doors. Paying to use the restroom. Grocery cart in a department store. For someone who has never been to Europe, these are jolting strange things, but they have become so normal to me, I forgot to explain or prepare him on many of the fronts. We traveled together with ease all weekend and I was super happy to have him along and that we wee so successful in what we were able to see in such a short period of time, and on a reasonable budget. I am already excited about our NEXT adventure!

So Friday morning, we set out to spend the day in Santander. We walked for about an hour through the city to really feel the pulse of Bilbao then boarded the bus. After a lovely scenic bus ride for about two hours, we were just a quick walk to the tourism office. With a map in hand, we walked to the beach and in not ideal weather, sat on a bench overlooking the beach and dug into the picnic we had packed. The entire trip the weather wasn't exactly ideal but this actually worked in our favor in the sense that instead of laying around on the beach, we saw a lot more of the city. Santander has its own characters and charm. There was a nice palace so we walked up to that and explored this mountain-like area. Though it wasn't "beach weather" (a phrase we kept joking about all weekend), and no one wants to be in five layers,a  scarf and boots on the beach... let me tell you, you DO if you want to be ON the beach. So we made the most of it all weekend.

We left Santander after walking for hours and crashed at the same hotel in Bilbao.

Saturday morning, we walked a different part of the city and saw the infamous Guggenheim's bizarre art collection. Certainly, the architecture of the building itself was more impressive to us than anything it held inside, but it was worth the visit. After walking and exploring some more, it was off to St. Jean-de-luz. This jewel of a beach resort town is just inside of France and was a spectacular delight. Within just a few minutes of being there, we decided to spend the night. With no reservations and just my trusty Rick Steve's book, we had a room reserved in a quaint little place with this lovely woman. her english was great, our French was terrible and she gave us suggestions on how to spend our day and even made us dinner reservations where we later feasted n some of the best sea food I've ever had. "Langostines" are my new favorite thing. St. Jean-de-Luz was a great stop. It's port and winding pedestrian streets charming and alive with character.

Since we knew it was most likely going to rain and was cold enough for several layers, we decided to venture deeper into France. Sunday, I took a long morning stroll through the city and really enjoyed myself. This is the most relaxed I have felt in a long time and it was really a fabulous trip from beginning to end. Jonathan got out of bed and joined me at the train station for our two hour ride to Bourdeaux. We had the misfortune of sharing a cart with a large family with several screaming small children but the views out of the window were exceptional.

When we got to Bourdeaux, it was Sunday and we had no map, no Rick Steve's, no idea what was in the city or anything. After having an extremely disappointing meal for lunch, we walked in the rain until we found a cafe where we could pay for wifi. 30 minutes later, we were in full tourist mode and we walked all over that city again.

I brought Jonathan to his first crepe with sugar and nutella. He was in love, of course. Bourdeaux surprised me and I can't really explain why. Originally a man at the information desk in the train station told us that we couldn't even get back to Spain that night but when we consulted a different desk, miraculously there were four trains. We chose to leave at 8, so we got a nice taste for the city at night, which was really great.

When we got into the border town, it was 11:20 and deserted. Realizing we may not be able to get into Spain after all, panic began to sink in. We had already had quite an ordeal trying to find a hotel where we could stay in San Sebastian so there was no way I was going to stay in France in this tiny town. As luck would have it, there were two American girls who are currently studying abroad in San Sebastian so we split a taxi and drove off into the night. The four of us chatted away and even with a gps, the Frenchman got lost around seven times. After our night tour of the city, Jonathan and I walked into our place for the night. The owner is THE nicest person that I have ever. She loves her job, her city, her hotel and she had a huge smile on her face telling us about the city the next morning and helping us plan our time. She had us eating at wonderful places and deserved every cent of the money we paid her for the room.
San Sebastian is breathtaking. For the only day of the trip, it was sunny and though still not beach weather, it was definitely the best weather. It was hard to leave the city and i was really wishing I could call in sick to work tomorrow so we could stay just one more day. San Sebastian is a place I must go back and lay in the sun and enjoy the sand in my bikini. It is truly a small slice of paradise.

5 cities in 4 days was definitely an adventure but I wouldn't have done it any other way because we saw so much. The only way it would be better is if I also had a tan!

cave-diving in the rain and other tales of portugal

Since Spaniards can't go much over a few weeks without taking a vacation, we had a few days off the first week of December. Melania and I found good deals to Portugal and without thinking about it too long, we charged two flights to our beloved plastic rectangles and set off on a great adventure. And let me tell you just what an adventure it was.
Our flight was delayed about 45 minutes due to fog in Lisbon. If this was a sign to prepare us that the weather was going to be horrible our entire trip, we both missed it because everyday we were just as disappointed as the day before that the weather was atrocious. Really. It was freezing (I bought a XXL mans sweater to wear as a dress one day I was that cold. I asked Melania if she was embarrassed to be seen with me and she said, 'who are you kidding? you won't take off your coat all day' and she was right so it was a good purchase!) It was so foggy we couldnt get a sense of the skyline or even see buildings in front of us which was unfortunate. Trying to give Lisbon the benefit of the doubt and blaming the weather on our disappointment in our impressions of the city, we quickly discovered that Porto (with equally poor or arguably worse weather) took our breath away. It rained so hard that the streets were beginning to flood. the next day at the excellent recommendation of weather.com, we didn't pack an umbrella and ended up walking 10 blocks in pouring rain. i didn't even have boots on or a coat so I was drenched rat status and had dripping hair when we finally slopped inside of our destination. If that mental image doesn't make you cringe, it should. it was rough, but we survived. 
     Melanias travel philosophy is a little different than mine, making traveling with her interesting. She likes to "lose yourself" (her way of saying let yourself get lost) and explore the back streets and find the culture of the city buried in its cracks. I suppose this is because she's Italian and there aren't that many monuments, buildings or churches that she's going to find impressive any time soon. I like to hit the brave the tourist packed sites then venture down to find the back doors. We traveled marvelously together doing a little bit of both, waking up early and having jam-packed days. Thursday after landing late, we explored plenty of the city's hilly streets on the hunt for a Portuguese style restaurant off the beaten path. the one we finally found was awesome. recharged after a nice lunch, we eventually wandered in the right direction to our hotel, shopped and wandered around, had a coffee, walked around more and crashed.
Friday, we got breakfast and went to a neighborhood with a tower to see the city and to see the famous bridge, neither of which we could see because of the thick thick fog. we toured the monastery and that's when it hit me just how rich Portugal use to be and just how brave those explorers were. Friday afternoon, we found the greatest art shop ever that was of course closed because it was the afternoon. deciding we really wanted a canvas we had seen in the window, we got lunch nearby so we could go back. the fresh Dorado cooked on the grill a few feet from our nose was delicious. the family-owned hole-in-the-wall asked if we wanted to move to Portugal and teach them all English. The art place was still closed and my theory about how few European businesses are actually concerned about making money was upheld. We mosied onto the church, the castle, more shopping and then more shopping. After stopping by the hotel and getting a quick dinner, we had coffee and desert in the city center and met up with two of Melanias friends for drinks. Interesting intellectuals and intriguing conversation then a midnight stroll to say goodbye to Lisbon and we hopped on the 9:30 train to Porto.

in the neighborhood, Belem

from the tower

bahaha makes me laugh everytime

some of the best fresh fish in the world!

 
The train ride was lovely. armed with coffee, I worked on applications and Melania did stuff for school as we ogled at the sites from our window of countryside, the ocean, adorable homes, dinky train stations and elaborate landscapes. Again, Rick Steve's provided an excellent hotel suggestion for cheap and in an incredible location. Immediately in love with this family owned place, we got our bearings and set off on what was soon to become one of my new favorite corners of the world. Porto is spectacular. Simply a stunning city full of awe, charm, personality and richness. We went across the river to go cave-diving. Not cave diving like you're probably picturing though. this was a port-wine-storage-cave-crawl. Hiking up several streets in the rain (not fun) to get to the first one, we said cheers with our first free tastings. Learning that the best vintage ports are still mashed by barefeet and taking the tour along side Port Wine 101 is a highlight of these last few months. We repeated these last few sentences four times. Free tastings, free tour, protection from the cold rain? We were happy little campers. After Port-cave-crawling, we shopped our way across the river and through the streets of port until we were cozy in bed. Saturday morning the first priority was washing out my lingering Port aftertaste with some strong coffee. unfortunately for Portugal, their coffee is terrible. In our five day trip, I can honestly say out of probably 15 coffees only one was enjoyable. so that's, in a word, pathetic. Saturday we walked and walked through the city and hit two or three tourist must-sees. Then we headed to THE OCEAN. though the chances of me getting pneumonia because I was standing with a coat on, boots in hand and my feet in the Atlantic Ocean, it was definitely worth it. The beach town beside Porto was such a disappointment. Like a little sad ghost town you'd see that was an abandoned movie set or something. Lisbon and Porto both were big in the Christmas spirit with lights and decorations which definitely helped remind me it's Christmas and that I will soon be home! it's so odd this idea to VACATION at HOME but it will pass in no time and I am thrilled! I am not sure who reads the blog and who doesn't but hopefully my ability to post on here will cut down on the amount of updating I have ahead of me and that all you'll have to do is update ME on YOU! More posts to soon follow so look out!

in one of the caves

the river by night. breathtaking.

my sad face with my sunglasses on because it was raining and i wanted it so badly to be pretty outside!

totally obsessed with this city. already cant wait to go back!