This week my parents and my Nana came out to visit me in Granada, the week covered my Mums birthday as well as my 21st so it was really good timing. They stayed in a hotel right near to my flat which was really convenient as it only meant a 5 minute walk whenever we wanted to meet up. They arrived in the evening on Sunday so we didn't do much, I just went back to their hotel and chilled for a bit. On Monday I had classes to go to in the morning, but after that we went to the Cartujan Monastary which was good as I'd not had a chance to go inside there yet. Tuesday was my Mums birthday, and I had classes again, so whilst I was there they went back on the Sight-seeing bus as they'd enjoyed it the day before and then went to the Cathedral. In the afternoon we had a bit of a wander and went out to dinner near the Alhambra to celebrate Mums birthday. Annoyingly I started to feel ill on Tuesday night so made the decision to get a good nights sleep and not go to classes on Weds. As it happened this was a good decision as my Nana dropped her purse in the taxi, long story short they were reunited but I had to make a phone call to the hotel and go and collect it. I also managed to get some productive work done in the flat whilst they were at the Alhambra so it worked out ok in the end. We didn't do too much on Weds afternoon because it was very hot, instead we got taxi back to the hotel, via a rather large detour. A slight misunderstanding between the taxi driver and I meant that he began taking us to hotel Los Angeles not Los Aljibes, not at all close to each other... In the evening we went for a wander round the shops in town and had dinner. There was another student strike on Thursday and lots of lessons were cancelled, I presumed that meant my class was off too and so took the day off again. We decided that as we had the whole day free we would go a little further and drive along the coast to Nerja, it was lovely weather and it was nice to get out of Granada. At this point I believed that I would be spending my birthday the following day in Malaga but this was not to be! The plan was to drive to a hotel in San Roque and then spend the day in Gibraltar where I have been wanting to go for ages but was pretty sure I wasn't going to have time to do. It was a really good day. So that we could fit it all in we did a taxi tour of the rock, meaning we got to go in the caves and the siege tunnels, see the apes and hear all about Gibraltar which we otherwise wouldn't have had time for. After the tour we had a wander round and then walked back to Spain(!), where we had to cross the runway to get off of Gibraltar, very odd! It was also very funny seeing M&S, Next and other British shops as well as telephone and post boxes. On Saturday we travelled back to Granada via Puerto Banus and Nerja. Granada is boiling now so we went and bought a fan so that I don't melt when I'm in my room and I've looked up where to get the bus to uni, it actually means walking in the wrong direction but I think that walking up to the Uni in the midday heat would just be stupid so I don't really have the choice. I only have 3 weeks left of classes now, and some finish in 2 weeks time and then I have my exams, so I don't have that many trips back up there anyway! In fact I have 12 days of classes at the most plus 4 exams in the next 40 days before I go home!
All in all I have had a great time having them here, as always saying good bye is really hard, but at least I know that the next time I am with them will be in the airport in London and my year abroad will officially have ended.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 May 2012
Sunday, 29 April 2012
The weekend we paid €18 for churros and chocolate!
This weekend I went on my last trip whilst I am here in Spain and spent a few days in Seville with Erin during the last weekend of the main festival there- Feria de Abril. We stayed in a hostel right near the Cathedral which was really nice, comfortable rooms and nice staff which is always good! After 3 and a bit hours on a bus I was finally in Seville and met up with Erin when she arrived from Barcelona. Not really knowing where we were going but heading roughly in the direction of the cathedral we set off, typically we had gone the wrong way only to have to turn round and go back the way we had just came! We did however eventually reach the hostel and drop off our bags in time for a wander round the city. In the evening we went to a Flamenco show at the Flamenco Museum which was really good, and well worth the €14 euros we paid for it as there were 2 dancers, a guitarist and a singer, I wasn't sure what I was going to think of it but it was really enjoyable. After that we, in true Spanish style, went and had paella for dinner in a bar close to the hostel.
On Saturday we woke up to the sound of the rain, brilliant timing for the rain to arrive in Seville the weekend we were there, but as there was nothing we could do about it we just got on with it. First up we went to the Alcazar, it is an old palace and parts of it are actually still in use, if you paid a bit more you could get a guided tour of these parts, but we had so much we wanted to fit into our day we didn't really have time to do that. At times it really reminded me of the Alhambra here in Granada, but it was significantly cheaper to get in (€8.50 normally but €2 as students!) After this we went to the Cathedral, with another brilliant student discount, down from €8 to €3! We were very impressed to have paid to do 2 things for the same amount as the full price entry to just one! Once we'd seen the Cathedral we headed to the Bull Ring and booked ourselves in on a guided tour and museum visit (of course, student rate applied again meaning that for the 3 things we visited that day we paid under €10 in entry fees- brilliant!) After all of this it was just coming up to 2.30 and we were pretty hungry so stopped for lunch. The starter was artichokes and ham, which I think would've been really nice, if it hadn't been soaked in so much olive all that it actually tasted like eating a plate of olives (which I really don't like....) bit the fish we had afterwards more than made up for it.
A trip to Seville this weekend would not have been complete without a visit to the site of the Feria. We really didn't know what we were expecting when we headed over the river to the site, luckily by now the rain had stopped and the sun was doing its best to shine through, giving us great weather for a wander around. The feria site is full of tents called casetas that the people of Seville and the surrounding areas hire out for private parties for their friends and family. There are also some public tents but not very many. The feria is the opportunity for the locals to show off quite how much money they have with the size and decoration of their tent but most importantly by the clothes they are wearing. Most people are dressed in traditional Andalcian style, with the woman in full flamenco dresses and the men with the old suits and hats. There are also loads and loads of horses at the feria, some pulling carriages and some being ridden, clearly being used as an opportunity for people to show themselves and their families off to everyone else that is there. Once we'd finished wandering round we decided to stop for chocolate and churros (these were actually called bunuelos, their bigger and doughier, but it's the same concept). We sat down, got served very promptly and then once we had the food in front of us the waiter said "€18 euros por favor" we had no choice but to pay it but we couldn't believe our ears! €18 for a bit of dough, sugar and hot chocolate!!!! We couldn't even finish them all, we made a valiant attempt, we really did, but we were beaten and couldn't eat any more. Once we'd got over that shock we started to head back to the hostel, via a trusty chino shop to purchase some shoes for €4 euros which are the most comfortable things I have worn in my life as my feet were slowly dying from the blisters my usually very comfortable sandles were giving me. In the evening we practically had to swim to go out for some food and a drink, it had been hailing previously and was pouring with rain - when you're both wearing canvas-y shoes this is not a good thing! That said we did have a nice selection of tapas at a bar a little off of the beaten tourist route. When we got back to the hostel we spent quite some time drying out the shoes with a hairdryer before eventually going to bed- after everything we'd fitted into the day we were exhausted!
This morning we had time to waste as we had to be out of the hostel but my bus wasn't until 2.30 so we decided to pop into an exhibition at a building called the Archivo General de Indias where there are lots of maps and other things from the discovery of the Americas. Seeing as it was fairly early in the morning and we'd not had the best nights sleep we didn't really make the most of this exhibition and ended up skim reading and looking at the maps and pictures because it was very in depth that our brains just weren't ready for it quite yet! Other than that we spent our time wandering around, in and out of little tourist shops, drinking coffee and eating lunch before it was time to head off again! We did happen to come across a little street market that was selling lots of old coins, stamps and other things including old postcards, they were all written and had been sent to people at one time or another, some of them were really interesting as they had Viva Franco! and Viva Espana! Stamped across them. We could've looked through them for ages.
Now I'm back in Granada I am very glad that this is a puente weekend, because Tuesday is the 1st of May and therefore a festival day across Spain we also get Monday off as well because, lets face it, what is the point in going into work just for one day? Got to love Spain for that! Hopefully I'll get some work done over the next couple of days, I certainly will if the weather stays as rubbish as it currently is because I won't want to be stepping outside!
This time next week my Mum, Dad and Nana should've landed in Malaga and be arriving in Granada! I can't wait to see them, they are staying for a week over my Mums birthday and mine too. I have classes on 4 of the days but only in the mornings so I should be able to spend plenty of time with them. The scary thing is quite how fast the time has flown, once they leave I have just 2 weeks left of classes, including a visit from a friend from Lancaster and then 4 weeks of exams before it is all over a done with!
On Saturday we woke up to the sound of the rain, brilliant timing for the rain to arrive in Seville the weekend we were there, but as there was nothing we could do about it we just got on with it. First up we went to the Alcazar, it is an old palace and parts of it are actually still in use, if you paid a bit more you could get a guided tour of these parts, but we had so much we wanted to fit into our day we didn't really have time to do that. At times it really reminded me of the Alhambra here in Granada, but it was significantly cheaper to get in (€8.50 normally but €2 as students!) After this we went to the Cathedral, with another brilliant student discount, down from €8 to €3! We were very impressed to have paid to do 2 things for the same amount as the full price entry to just one! Once we'd seen the Cathedral we headed to the Bull Ring and booked ourselves in on a guided tour and museum visit (of course, student rate applied again meaning that for the 3 things we visited that day we paid under €10 in entry fees- brilliant!) After all of this it was just coming up to 2.30 and we were pretty hungry so stopped for lunch. The starter was artichokes and ham, which I think would've been really nice, if it hadn't been soaked in so much olive all that it actually tasted like eating a plate of olives (which I really don't like....) bit the fish we had afterwards more than made up for it.
A trip to Seville this weekend would not have been complete without a visit to the site of the Feria. We really didn't know what we were expecting when we headed over the river to the site, luckily by now the rain had stopped and the sun was doing its best to shine through, giving us great weather for a wander around. The feria site is full of tents called casetas that the people of Seville and the surrounding areas hire out for private parties for their friends and family. There are also some public tents but not very many. The feria is the opportunity for the locals to show off quite how much money they have with the size and decoration of their tent but most importantly by the clothes they are wearing. Most people are dressed in traditional Andalcian style, with the woman in full flamenco dresses and the men with the old suits and hats. There are also loads and loads of horses at the feria, some pulling carriages and some being ridden, clearly being used as an opportunity for people to show themselves and their families off to everyone else that is there. Once we'd finished wandering round we decided to stop for chocolate and churros (these were actually called bunuelos, their bigger and doughier, but it's the same concept). We sat down, got served very promptly and then once we had the food in front of us the waiter said "€18 euros por favor" we had no choice but to pay it but we couldn't believe our ears! €18 for a bit of dough, sugar and hot chocolate!!!! We couldn't even finish them all, we made a valiant attempt, we really did, but we were beaten and couldn't eat any more. Once we'd got over that shock we started to head back to the hostel, via a trusty chino shop to purchase some shoes for €4 euros which are the most comfortable things I have worn in my life as my feet were slowly dying from the blisters my usually very comfortable sandles were giving me. In the evening we practically had to swim to go out for some food and a drink, it had been hailing previously and was pouring with rain - when you're both wearing canvas-y shoes this is not a good thing! That said we did have a nice selection of tapas at a bar a little off of the beaten tourist route. When we got back to the hostel we spent quite some time drying out the shoes with a hairdryer before eventually going to bed- after everything we'd fitted into the day we were exhausted!
This morning we had time to waste as we had to be out of the hostel but my bus wasn't until 2.30 so we decided to pop into an exhibition at a building called the Archivo General de Indias where there are lots of maps and other things from the discovery of the Americas. Seeing as it was fairly early in the morning and we'd not had the best nights sleep we didn't really make the most of this exhibition and ended up skim reading and looking at the maps and pictures because it was very in depth that our brains just weren't ready for it quite yet! Other than that we spent our time wandering around, in and out of little tourist shops, drinking coffee and eating lunch before it was time to head off again! We did happen to come across a little street market that was selling lots of old coins, stamps and other things including old postcards, they were all written and had been sent to people at one time or another, some of them were really interesting as they had Viva Franco! and Viva Espana! Stamped across them. We could've looked through them for ages.
Now I'm back in Granada I am very glad that this is a puente weekend, because Tuesday is the 1st of May and therefore a festival day across Spain we also get Monday off as well because, lets face it, what is the point in going into work just for one day? Got to love Spain for that! Hopefully I'll get some work done over the next couple of days, I certainly will if the weather stays as rubbish as it currently is because I won't want to be stepping outside!
This time next week my Mum, Dad and Nana should've landed in Malaga and be arriving in Granada! I can't wait to see them, they are staying for a week over my Mums birthday and mine too. I have classes on 4 of the days but only in the mornings so I should be able to spend plenty of time with them. The scary thing is quite how fast the time has flown, once they leave I have just 2 weeks left of classes, including a visit from a friend from Lancaster and then 4 weeks of exams before it is all over a done with!
Sunday, 8 April 2012
An accidental holiday in Magaluf.
This was the week that we had been looking forward to for a long time. Booked at the end of last year we decided to spend our holiday in Mallorca, it was somewhere we could all get to from 3 different airports, it was a good price and it is a nice place. We booked a hotel called TRH Palmanova (remember this, it is going to be important...), booked our flights, and all we had to do was wait, so wait we did. A quick read up on the internet suggested that the hotel wasn't quite in Palmanova like the name would suggest, and on a steep hill, neither of which really caused us a problem. Easter week rolls around and off we go! Charlotte and Vicki arrived first having flown together from Manchester, and get told we've been moved hotels as there had been over booking with ours, not a problem, it's just even further up the hill! Now I'll take you back to our location, we were basically on the end of the strip in Magaluf! Not quite what we'd intended, but oh well! Palmanova itself, when we actually did go there for a wander, is a lot bigger than we had realised and we'd certainly go and stay there again. The only problem with the location we ended up in was that there was a Spanish festival of some sort on for a few days and there was a huge group of people staying in our hotel, and they weren't the quiet type! But when this is the view from your balcony, you really can't complain:
The very first time we took a walk down to the beach we realised that we would have to find another route, it is impossible to walk down the main strip without getting stopped at least every 5 or 6 steps (and I'm not even exaggerating) by some promoter or other trying to get you to stop in their bar for a drink. It doesn't matter how clear you make it to some of them that you're not interested, they'll engage you in conversation, physically block the way, try and split up the group and even try pulling you in by your hair! It's a bit of a laugh but certainly gets tiresome after a while. We instead tended to go to places along the beach front or walk over to Palmanova where there are still plenty of lively bars but without the hassle. We did cave into them once or twice though, the first time was at 4 in the afternoon when we bought beer and sangria and got given free shots of Sambuca, only in Magaluf...
Because we're so cool and so mature we bought a bucket, spade, rake and some little animal shapes, oh and a sive! We spent quite a while on 2 different days making these creations:
And on a sand related note, the girls buried me in the sand and sculpted me into a mermaid. I didn't get the best photo of that though!
In general we spent our week wandering, eating, drinking and laying in the sun, so I'm not going to give you a diary entry style blog of what we did for fear of boring you all so much that you never come back! However, we did go to Palma for the day which was nice, other than paying €4.50 for a Fanta! We had intended to see one of the Easter parades for Semana Santa but by the time we'd spent the day there we were getting tired and ready to leave so we didn't get to see it. I just see that as an excuse for me to get back out to Spain another Easter and see it all though!
We also did one of those holiday essentials and played mini golf which was a lot of fun. Especially with holes like this one where the water gets in the way some what:
I didn't do very well, lets just say that I lost by a long long way and leave it at that shall we? Whilst we were there Katy and I had our photo taken with a snake, it was pretty scary and we weren't really expecting it to happen, but we had to buy it just to prove we've done it! Apologies for the quality, it really needs to be scanned in at some point.
That is about it really! I came back this morning fairly early, I've unpacked, done 2 loads of washing, uploaded my photos, done my photo of the day project and now I've even written this! Will be an early night for me tonight though, and hoping for my first totally uninterrupted nights sleep in a week! Got a day tomorrow to catch up and maybe do some work before classes start again on Tuesday which feels really odd. I'm glad though, because I'd quite like the next few weeks to pass, it's been hard knowing so many Erasmus students that have been home and seen their families this week and I haven't. Oh well, one blank weekend, then Cordoba, then Seville and then my parents are here with my Nana for a whole week which even includes my 21st! Can't wait!
The very first time we took a walk down to the beach we realised that we would have to find another route, it is impossible to walk down the main strip without getting stopped at least every 5 or 6 steps (and I'm not even exaggerating) by some promoter or other trying to get you to stop in their bar for a drink. It doesn't matter how clear you make it to some of them that you're not interested, they'll engage you in conversation, physically block the way, try and split up the group and even try pulling you in by your hair! It's a bit of a laugh but certainly gets tiresome after a while. We instead tended to go to places along the beach front or walk over to Palmanova where there are still plenty of lively bars but without the hassle. We did cave into them once or twice though, the first time was at 4 in the afternoon when we bought beer and sangria and got given free shots of Sambuca, only in Magaluf...
Because we're so cool and so mature we bought a bucket, spade, rake and some little animal shapes, oh and a sive! We spent quite a while on 2 different days making these creations:And on a sand related note, the girls buried me in the sand and sculpted me into a mermaid. I didn't get the best photo of that though!
In general we spent our week wandering, eating, drinking and laying in the sun, so I'm not going to give you a diary entry style blog of what we did for fear of boring you all so much that you never come back! However, we did go to Palma for the day which was nice, other than paying €4.50 for a Fanta! We had intended to see one of the Easter parades for Semana Santa but by the time we'd spent the day there we were getting tired and ready to leave so we didn't get to see it. I just see that as an excuse for me to get back out to Spain another Easter and see it all though!
We also did one of those holiday essentials and played mini golf which was a lot of fun. Especially with holes like this one where the water gets in the way some what:
I didn't do very well, lets just say that I lost by a long long way and leave it at that shall we? Whilst we were there Katy and I had our photo taken with a snake, it was pretty scary and we weren't really expecting it to happen, but we had to buy it just to prove we've done it! Apologies for the quality, it really needs to be scanned in at some point.
That is about it really! I came back this morning fairly early, I've unpacked, done 2 loads of washing, uploaded my photos, done my photo of the day project and now I've even written this! Will be an early night for me tonight though, and hoping for my first totally uninterrupted nights sleep in a week! Got a day tomorrow to catch up and maybe do some work before classes start again on Tuesday which feels really odd. I'm glad though, because I'd quite like the next few weeks to pass, it's been hard knowing so many Erasmus students that have been home and seen their families this week and I haven't. Oh well, one blank weekend, then Cordoba, then Seville and then my parents are here with my Nana for a whole week which even includes my 21st! Can't wait!
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