Espana!

Spain, Round 2...this time I had a money belt.

 

I woke up at 630am on Saturday to watch the boat pull into port. The sunrise was so worth the lack of sleep.

See look!!

 

 

..you should have seen that sunrise with your own eyes - john mayer.

 

We began the day in Cadiz with some sight seeing and shopping. Typical tourist stuff and what not.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach, drinking some spanish sangria and swimming in the Mediteranean Sea. Typical college students and what not.

 

 

Shortie got that super thang, hotter than the sun in the south of Spain- sean kingston.

 

After a long night out in Cadiz, over sleeping for our 9am train to Granada was not a shock to any of us. So we decided to just take the train to the city of Seville and spend a few days there. All we had were our backpacks and a travelguide book. No plans for hostels or return bus times. It was amazing.  

 

Of course we arrived and got a hostel right away. There were 10 of us so we took up the entire building, which was cool, but I would have liked to have met some nomads and whatnot. Anywho, we spent our days sight seeing at Alcazar and La Giealda, which is this huge castle and is the oldest church that is still used to this day in all of Europe. We climed the 43 stories to the top of the bell tower in nearly 100 degree weather. The view was worth the amount of sweat that poured out of my forehead. Im so classy.

Next up- What is Spain famous for? BULL FIGHTS! Seville is the most well known city for their bullfight. I was the only girl who enjoyed watching the bulls get stabbed and taunted. I wanted more blood shed. Once again, Im classy.

Next up on our list for getting our culture fix was some Flamenco music. Flamenco shows usually consist of a dancer in a frilly dress, who does a specific speed movement of her feet as someone plays a guitar and another sings. At least thats what happened in the show that we attended. We hit gold with our Flamenco show. We ended up at this hole in the wall authentic Flamenco show. It was filled with all locals and was not flashy at all. I've never seen anyone move their feet so fast or have such passion in their singing. Another perfect Spanish experience.

 

As for the food in Spain, I was not impressed. Barcelona set the bar high for this area. Not even the churros (long doughnut type object that you dip in chocolate) was not all that they were cracked up to be. Maybe I should try the ones at Cosco, as my new friend Lauren suggests. Although I must say that the bread was by far the best I have ever had in my life. And once again, the European coffee was so good! Sometimes, Mayssa is right about things in life. Sometimes.

 

We made it back to Cadiz really early in the day so we can spend more time in the port city before leaving that evening. And yes, I made it on time to the ship that night! We are on what were call "Byron Time". He is the Academic Dean for SAS and he is very strict about getting back on the ship (well duh). The ship leaves port at 8pm, but you need to be back and checked in by 6pm. Thats checked in, not waiting in line to get on. If your card is swiped after 6, you will recieve an hour of 'dock time' for every minute you are not checked in. 

Dock time = While everyone is out enjoying the country we are in, you are stuck on the boat in time out. Im telling you all this because I know that I have a reputation for being late for life, and my father is convinced that I am going to miss the boat sooner or later. Rest assure, that will not happen.

 

Anyways, today was our one day of travel between Spain and Morocco. Not enough time to recouperate. The ship refueled right as we were sailing past the island of Gibraltar, which is a tiny country that is basically this giant rock with a tiny village at the base. It was quite the view for the few hour we were gettin some gas! (Lisa and Lauren, we would have some pretty great Forbes jokes at this moment).

 

So tomorrow we sail into Morocco. Here is where the culture shock adventure really begins. I found that winging it and traveling in small groups is best for independent travel. I have no idea what to expect, I just hope that Morocco is just a good of a success that Spain was, and I have over 1000 pictures to show for it. I could write an entire book on the experience I am having and this is only the first port...

 

Camels and carpets, here I come!