Ok, so in my last post, I talked about the Camino de Santiago, which was really hard and really long and really crazy, but also amazing. I also mentioned the fact that I had a 10/11 hour train ride to go home. Well, I got home at about 9:30 PM and instead of going to bed like my body was begging me to do, I had to unpack everything from the Camino, do laundry, and repack everything I was planning on bringing on our next adventure.
So the next day, at about 10 AM, we set off on my second Easter journey. This time we were going to Ronda, which is in the province of Malaga. Now I don't know how many of you know this, but I live in Bilbao...that's northern Spain...and Malaga is in southern Spain. So that meant 2 DAYS IN A ROW of 10 hour travel (this time in a car with the family).
It's funny that as soon as you get out of the Basque country, everything changes. You start actually seeing Spanish flags, because not living in the Basque country allows you to hang them up without being almost killed in the process. (For those of you that are less culturally aware, the Basque country is fighting like crazy for it's independence from Spain. If you say that they're Spanish, they will probably go on a 30 minute rant...believe me, it happened to me the first few months.)
So we drove down to Ronda, where we met up with my host dad's cousin and his family. They have a beautiful big house out in the country! Having this big house and all this land allows them to have something that you don't see a lot in Spain...PETS (ok there are a lot of cats and some dogs but whatever). I mean they went all out. They have 3 dogs, 3 cats, 2 guinea pigs, birds, 4 peacocks, a donkey, goats, chickens...I feel like I'm forgetting something...
That first night we put our things in their apartment that they were letting us use for the week. The apartment is right above their Veterinary Clinic (that explains the pets!). After that, we went out on the town for a late night dinner at around 10:30 (actually not that late of a dinner in Spain) and there was a sort of "parade" going on, which I couldn't even watch. The thing is, they have a bunch of monk looking people with terrifying masks on that make them look like they're part of the KKK and they play this creepy drum music and I get really freaked out, so I couldn't watch.
Little bro, Gotzon, sis, Ane Elena, and wittle cuzzo, Mario
Easter parade (sis had to take pics)
The next day we woke up and the amazing thing was that the sun was finally shining!! In Bilbao, you don't get too much sun. It's basically a constant cover of rain or clouds. We walked into the town center and had some churros with chocolate (YUMMMMM try it if you get the chance) and then did some touring, which was amazing. I can't even describe how beautiful it was. I'll let the pictures do the talking...after all, a picture IS worth a thousand words...
that's a lot of churro
Mom, Sis and I in front of the Plaza de toros
Breathtaking
Main street (great shopping I must add)
Later that day, we went to a surprise birthday party for someone in the family, which is where I saw the hottest Spanish guy that I have ever seen, I must say... Sorry Pino hehe... ANYWAY, I finally got to eat paella!!! Before coming to Spain, I was so pumped for the paella, but it's not a very popular dish in northern Spain...chipirones en su tinta is more popular (and also VERY disgusting...) So it was a great day of laughter, chatting, LOTS of food, family, and definitely some sun bathing!
Dad and my precious cuzzo, Mario
Stuck like glue
Now THAT'S paella
The next day, my host sister and I walked around the town for the morning to do some more sight seeing, which was incredible. It really is a GORGEOUS town, honestly. I think the only downside is that there are quite a lot of tourists..but oh well, it was pretty cool to finally hear people speaking in English.
Later that day, we went to the mountains and took a short hike. Let's just say I wasn't too thrilled about that at first, because I was in skinny jeans and vans and it was a good 85 degrees out...but luckily we didn't hike much. We went to these two pretty awesome caves to take pictures and see the nature. I must admit, it was quite beautiful.
Right after that, we went out to eat. At first we thought we were just going to get a coke and hang out and then we would eat later, but in the end, we ended up eating a bunch of little things until we got full. That's actually kind of normal here in Spain. We ate things like calamari, fries with Spanish jamon (ham), and even fried olives, which were strangely satisfying. After lunch, we took a walk through the park and then I went back to the apartment and took a much needed nap.
Later that day, we picked up our little cuzzo Mario, who is the most precious thing I've ever seen in my life, and we went to these Arabic baths (basically just like Roman baths) that were built on the outskirts of the city a ridiculously long time ago. And right after that, we went to this really old mine in the mountain where the people of Ronda used to go down and get their water from the small lake at the bottom. It was really beautiful.
can't handle his cuteness
Arabic bath house
Outskirts of Ronda
Mine
On Tuesday, the family and I went to the bull ring in Ronda to check it out. I was really disappointed we couldn't actually see the bull fight (?? I have no idea what that's actually called) happen, but it was pretty cool to finally see the inside of a ring.
To finish out the day, we went to a little village called Setenil that has houses built into the side of the mountain. It was so strange and I don't understand how people can possibly live in those houses because they're so tiny and they're made of rock. I mean hey that's pretty sweet, but I just don't think I could do it. That night, we said goodbye to our cousins and packed up our things because the next day was our last day in the South, but we weren't going to be spending it in Ronda.
Goodbyes are always hard
The next morning, we headed out of town. We went to a town about two hours away. I don't remember what the town is named, but that's not all that important. That day we went touring the Roman baths, theater, amphitheater, and museum that they have in the town, which was really cool. It's fascinating to see that these incredibly old, elaborate structures are able to be conserved.
amphitheater
theater
The next morning, we packed up our things and we went home...another 10 hour car ride, which wasn't very fun, but I mean hey, it's gotta be done. It was great to get away from life for a while and visit a new place, a place that was everything I expected Spain to be. I loved it so much, but the thing is, I didn't realize just how much I missed Bilbao. When we got to the Basque Country, I felt it...I felt at peace, at ease, at home. I loved Andalucia and Southern Spain and the heat and the sun, but the truth is, rainy old Bilbao is my home, it's my city. I'm so proud to be from Bilbao.
Overall, my Easter vacation was incredible! It was definitely the best Easter break I've ever had. I know this blog post was a little different from normal, because there's usually a lot more writing and a lot less pictures, but oh well, time to shake it up. I also realize this blog post is ridiculously late, and I'm sorry for that, but hey, cut me some slack, I've got one heck of a busy life over here (;
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