FYI this is a long one--- sorry, but there was just so much
to share!
You know those two insanely weird customers or random strangers
you come home to tell your family and friends about? Well those two weirdos were Anna and I the
past week as we got numerous looks and laughs as we attempted to communicate
with the locals of Spain.
First off, our airport adventure was already a definite
culture shock even in London. Actually
going through security was much stricter than back in the states which we were
not expecting. But once you got through
security everything else was much calmer and way to easy going in my
opinion. You did not know your gate
number until 30 to 20 minutes before your flight took off. So everyone in the airport was gathered
around the departure screens with their eyes glued to see the gate number
appear and then make a mad dash in hopes of making it on their plane. Funny thing is the signs next to the
departures reminded you to “allow enough time to get to your gate so you are
not late”.
The appearance of the airport
was also shocking to me. Hardly any
restaurants and food anywhere! Instead
it was a big “posh” mall: Prada, Gucci, Burberry, Dior replaced the food and
tourist shops you see in American airports.
On the plane, a total 2 hour trip, we were served a big ol’ sub sandwich
with any beverage of choice. The flight
attendants also made announcements about charities and walked around for
donations. Surprisingly the seats were
also much larger even though I have yet to see one obese European. So many different things! Anyway, when we landed I was immediately
captivated by the beauty of the Spanish landscape- it was actually much
different than I was expecting. It
reminded me of a desert, but yet there were so many different elevations and
mystery to it. Welcome to Spain: the guy
through customs of course had no idea how to speak English, even though he was
in the international booth and all of the signs were listed in English that we
came across so far.
Finally we were greeted by our lovely host family, Debbie
and Juan Carlos. Debbie is the aunt of
my best friend from college, Becca. They
live in the beautiful town of Toledo which is just outside of Madrid. I felt at home right away with their warm
welcome, driving on the right side of the road, and ‘Kiss FM’ radio station
playing. Toledo has to be my favorite
place I have been so far on my travels and adventures outside of London. The town is built up on a hill and is
completely surrounded by water and castle like buildings; out of a fairytale
basically. Even though it was after 10
before we finally got to their home they still had yet to eat dinner. Next culture shock: Spaniards basically eat 4
meals a day; a light breakfast when they wake up, light lunch around 10-11, the
big meal around 3 which everyone gets off of school and work at least 2 hours
to go home for, and dinner around 11 at night.
So at 11 we walked our rumbling stomachs to a little bar down the street
to eat dinner. The waitress about had a
fit when Anna and I said we wanted water to drink and not alcohol. Debbie and Juan Carlos ordered ‘tapas” for us
all the share, which is common for dinnertime here. We had salad with oil, vinegar, white
asparagus, and tomato, delicious shrimp, and Spanish tortilla: eggs, potatoes,
and onion (my new favorite food). It was
all SO good. The best food I have eaten
so far in Europe and by midnight that night I was already in love with
Spain.
The adorable house we stayed at.
First official day in Spain was started off by Debbie taking
us into the center of Toledo and giving us a brief tour of the breathtaking
city.
We then went back to have lunch:
mangos, pork, rice, sautéed mushrooms, more tortilla, salad, mussels, fresh
tomatoes, and I can’t even remember what else, but YUM! Anna and I then decided to be a bit touristy
and hop on the train that takes you all around the Toledo and it was actually
really cool because the train drove around the outside of the city and stopped
for us to take pictures.
We also learned
a bit about the local landmarks, which was informative to help us plan out our
next couple days here. Toledo is known
as the place of “undiscovered secrets” in the fact that whenever the ground is
dug into in attempt to build something they always find a new treasure from
years ago. It was then time for some
gelato considering there was that and frozen yogurt on every corner here. While enjoying our refreshing mint chocolate
chip we wandered the streets and came across a Leonardo Da Vinci museum. I honestly did not realize how beyond brilliant
this man was. How one person can form
the ideas and outlines of how so many of our machinery and products used today
work is just crazy to me.
Monday was absolutely gorgeous outside! What a great day for exploring Toledo! The town does not have a single straight or
even large road. It instead consists of
very narrow, winding, cobblestone pathways, so it is very easy to wander and
get “lost” which is just what we started our day off doing. We came across a quaint park with a yet again
spectacular view.
After falling even
more in love with Spain it was time for lunch: fried eggs, Spanish ham, fries,
and of course more gelato! It was then
on to San Juan de los Reyes, which is a historic monastery in Toledo that was built
by the Catholic Monarchs in the 1500s.
It was SO beautiful and peaceful here!
Anna and I just sat there in awe for a good couple of hours.
We were then so very privileged to have the
opportunity to attend mass at the gorgeous cathedral of Toledo. It is only supposed to be for Spaniards, but we
were able to make our way in and attend.
This was hands down my most favorite thing we did in Spain. The mass was such a breathtaking experience,
words can’t even describe it. Even
though the entire service was in Spanish I still knew what was going on
basically the entire time, which was exciting to me. It brought tears to my eyes being here and
having the time to praise God and be so thankful to him for watching over me,
protecting me, and guiding me on this amazing journey in my life. I am so overjoyed to be feeling and doing as
well here.
Tuesday we started off the day at a very interesting typical
Spanish market. It reminded me of a big
outdoor department store. I really don’t
know how else to describe it. Everything
from clothes, to purses, to pillows, to blankets, to shoes, to socks, to rugs,
to lamps, to undergarments… there was seriously everything and to top it off:
each stand had someone yelling in Spanish about how they have the lowest prices
and to come shop by them. Such an
interesting cultural experience I have to say.
Today we decided to go back and eat lunch with
Debbie and her family around 3, which left us hungry at noon and yes that means
we made time for frozen yogurt with berries and chocolate nutella sauce. Before lunch we also went to the Museo Del
Greco, which was in his beautiful old house.
This famous artist lived in Toledo almost all of his life and painted
and designed what is seen in most of the town.
After lunch we went back to the cathedral to go through the audio guided
tour. It is seriously one of the most
gorgeous cathedrals I have ever been too.
Wednesday morning it was time to hop on a bus to Cordoba in
southern Spain. Four hours later we
arrived to even warmer temperatures and palm trees, which was a surprise to
both of us. Wandering in a new and very
different city we found ourselves at a traditional Spanish restaurant eating
Spanish tortilla for lunch.
It was then
off to the most famous attraction of Cordoba and something that I remember
studying in high school, the Mezquita Cathedral of Cordoba. This is basically an Islamic Mosque inside of
a church. It is really interesting and
beautiful to see.
One more stop that our
day would not be complete without: more frozen yogurt with coconut and fresh
mangos!
Thursday morning we woke up to more beautiful Cordoba
sunshine. I literally felt like I was on
a tropical vacation here and everything was just so beautiful and lively. Cordoba has numerous parks and plazas, which we
spent most of our day wandering about.
Of course we also took in some shopping, but not too much because we
were trying our best to hold out for Madrid.
There was another market we stumbled across, were good at finding
those! So many cute scarves and jewelry
here I loved it all!
Palm trees :)
Friday morning I woke up to the familiar sounds of the hustle
and bustle of a big city: Madird! Debbie’s
daughter, Lydia, offered to let Anna and I come stay with her for a couple
days. She is the same age as us and
attends college in the center of Madrid, so of course we had to take up the
offer. Today was our much needed day of
shopping! Lydia walked us down towards
the major fashion and shopping area of Madrid where Anna and I found ourselves in
for the next seven hours. Spain has shoe
stores on literally every corner, so we decided it was necessary that we each
come home with a new pair of boots… check!
Interestingly enough, for lunch we found ourselves sitting next to two
American’s and on the other side of them was two Australians. We all had one big English conversation with
one another, which was very comforting and entertaining. I was beginning to feel secluded with the
difficulty of the language barrier, so it was nice to have a full out English
conversation again. One of the
Australian’s was absolutely hilarious.
He seriously believed he could tell our fortunes just by hearing our
date of birth and by looking at us. My
fortune: complete success in my future career, which I can’t really complain
about that!
I absolutely loved my week in Spain, even though everywhere
we went everyone knew we were American even without us saying one word. Both Anna and I actually began to find it
really bothersome. If there is one thing
that I realized on this trip it is that we Americans are not nearly as close to
being as culturally competent and aware as we like to think we are. Honestly, we are so ignorant to the rest of
the world and we carry so many stereotypes that are not remotely close to being
true. I was so embarrassed at how little
I knew about Spain and the culture and that I had taken Spanish classes for
many, many years, but yet I could not even begin to form a sentence and communicate
with the locals. Good thing every single
sign, menu, museum descriptions, and pamphlets were listed in English!
Again as you could probably tell I absolutely loved all of
the food here in Spain! So much rice,
eggs, meat, potatoes, fruits, and veggies!
Basically my entire diet! And yup
don’t forget about the gelato and frozen yogurt! Leave it up to Anna and I to find frozen
yogurt or gelato every single day in Spain and even book a hotel with an ice
cream shop, shoes, and chocolate right on the corner. Yup we have some major sweet teeth. Needless to say my food cravings have been
fulfilled and completely satisfied here.
I think I gained my goal weight in just 3 days of being in Spain!
I am so overjoyed to have been able to have the opportunity
to travel to three completely different places in Spain, especially two smaller
towns that are not as well known. It was
also so comforting to be able to go stay in a home environment and really get
the cultural feel of typical day to day Spanish life. I think it really made my experience memorable
and more knowledgeable that it ever could have been. Spain really exceeded my expectations and I
can’t believe I am about to admit this, but if it wouldn’t be for the language
barrier, I think my heart goes to Spain just as much, if not more, than
England.
I hope you all had a great week! Sorry I didn't get a chance to post anything until now and that it was so long, but I hope you enjoyed hearing about all of my Spain adventures. There are a lot more pictures on Facebook if you have access to that. FYI you are also able to click on the pictures on here to make them larger :)
-Brittany
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