so i can't spend an incredible amount of time telling you aaaall that we saw (we did some good traveling in a week!) because it's the FINAL week in sevilla. how strange. i've always known 'time flies when you're having fun" but i've learning just how tricky time is over the past 3 months. september may have been the longest month ever. october was the turning point, quite a sun-shiney month. november was just a blink of an eye and a few homesickness plunges. and now it's december? really? we always said that december doesn't even count in the countdown, because just over 2 weeks in spain then boom. home. i have 6 more toast breakfasts to eat (until i go toast-free for an undetermined stint of time). i have 2 days of class, 3 tests, 2 papers and a presentation. one weekend, one more volunteering afternoon. one end of semester fiesta and 2 plane rides. shoot!!
but ok. back on task (even if this is a good procrastination technique...i have some 'last saturday plans" for today! (homework, shopping, eating & fiesta-ing)
el puente (literally means bridge) - since december 6 & 8 were holidays, we had a 6 day weekend (friday-wednesday) so everyone took advantage of it! due to some changes to my plans here and there, instead of seeing london & bristol, i stayed in spain and went up north! (which avoided a lot of unforeseen problems like lots of snow & air controller strikes!) we used buses as transportation the entire week.
now guess how many hours we spent on a bus!
i kept my stopwatch going everytime we were in transit from city to city.
look at a map of spain.
we went from sevilla to santiago de compostela to oviedo to bilbao to san sebastian to madrid to sevilla.
what's your guess?
40 hours & 45 minutes, approximately. más o menos.
crazy. huh?
alright....city by city...here's a little summary:
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA:
it's really all about pilgrimage here. james' tomb is right here inside this cathedral. we saw him. it's true. all of its history is about pilgrimage (trust me, i have the museum tickets to prove it)...
and THIS is the 'tarta de santiago'....made of almonds, eggs and sugar. tasty!
and the other treat here is pulpo...octopus. that's right!
and we had some! the tentacles didn't stick to my tongue, thank goodness. and for not being that into seafood...i liked it! they cut the legs so they're just little slices, and you eat them with a toothpick, not a fork!
OVIEDO:
here, the big deal is 'sidra' which is like hard cider. they pour it just like this guy is...from way up high, i guess to get as much oxygen in there as possible, and he doesn't pour a lot at once, only maybe a 1/4 of a glass, because you're supposed to drink it soon after it's poured.
our 'table media' of 'queso fresco' ....FRESH CHEESE. devoured instantly. (if it seems the highlights of our trip was food, you're not far off).
oviedo...beautiful. we loved loved loved it here. and we were sad we didn't have more time. but! it was off to the next city:
BILBAO:
known most for the Guggenheim... we were upset that we came on monday, because it's closed on mondays! so what were we gonna do in bilbao?! so we just went to the guggenheim to see the outside (including this puppy!)....
and what do ya know! it was open (due to the holiday!) thank goodness.
i'm gonna make this statement:
everyone needs to go to the guggenheim in order to complete their life.
i was completely enamored, and sometimes close to tears (surprising, right? haha)....
just go there.
SAN SEBASTIAN:
right on the bay, san sebastian is basically perfect. classy, fun, beachy, relaxed....
AND there's an aquarium. do i need to say anymore?
...with a tunnel where you're surrounded by sharks, turtles, and all sorts of fish!
and on our final day, we walked the beach, climbed around some jetties...all wearing a t-shirt (no jacket)...a few days earlier, san sebastian experienced the usual freezing temperatures, not weird for up north. but we experienced the freak days of 18 degrees (celcius, that is!)...~68 fahrenheit. the perfect way to end a GREAT puente.
...now it's back to work!!
