Madrid and Cádiz

The more I see of Spain, the more I am falling in love with it. My trips to Madrid and Cádiz were amazing and very busy, so I will try not to ramble on too much here!

Three weeks ago, I spent the weekend in Madrid with Elena, Andrés and their friends. It was a great weekend! Despite being mid-February, we were lucky enough to have 15–20 degree weather both days. Andrés was in a course all weekend, but the rest of us were in full tourist mode and visited everything: Puerta del Sol, Plaza de España, Plaza de Cibeles, Parque del Retiro, Gran Vía… needless to say, we were exhausted once we got back to the hotel! As promised by everybody I spoke to leading up to the trip, estaba flipando (an expression meaning I was enchanted/overwhelmed/in love with the city). Madrid is up there with Paris for me in terms of its charm: it’s a perfect mix of gorgeous, old architecture; beautiful green spaces; good food; and amazing shopping. Overall, un lugar con encanto (it has a certain charm). We were also lucky to be in Madrid during the Carnaval. The streets were packed with people, and on Saturday night there was a parade. Unfortunately we couldn't see much because of all the people, but it was a fun atmosphere nonetheless. I did come to appreciate the relaxed, small-town feel of Linares, though, as I was pushed on the metro and had to dodge crowds of people in the streets!

Last weekend was a puente (four-day weekend) for teachers in Andalusia, so my fellow language assistant friends and I took advantage and spent four days in Cádiz. What a gorgeous province! Between its spectacular white sand beaches, blue skies, warm sun, two beautiful castles, cobblestone streets, and cute shopping district, the city of Cádiz stole our hearts. We found ourselves staring longingly at every bilingual school we came across, thinking “if only…” However, we realized that all the comments we’d heard from linarenses about how Linares has good, inexpensive food were by no means unfounded: we were shocked at how pricey going out was considering that tapas, unlike Linares, were not free and at times were not as good as Linares either. Unfortunately, I couldn’t try Cádiz’s famous pescado frito (fried fish) because it was breaded, but Levi and Gabe assured me that it was delicious. We had great weather all weekend, and I was even able to dip my feet in the Atlantic! A stark contrast with the weather back home for sure. We also visited two other cities in the province of Cádiz called Jerez de la Frontera and El Puerto de Santa María. Both were very nice cities and are known for their sherry. ("Sherry" is actually the translation of "Jerez.") Levi, Gabe and I did a sherry wine tasting in Jerez, which consisted of the five different types of sherry ranging from Fino (the driest) to Pedro Ximenez (the sweetest). Levi was not a fan at all, Gabe liked two types and I liked them all. Luckily we decided to order a plate of cheese with the sherry because it was quite strong, and even with some food in our stomachs we felt it go to our heads when we stood up. We were only in each city about four hours, but we managed to see the gorgeous Alcázar (Moorish castle) and massive cathedral in Jerez and the medieval castle in El Puerto de Santa Maria, as well as wander around both cities a bit. Levi, Shannon and Gabe had to return to Linares early Monday morning, but I decided to stay in Cádiz city until the afternoon. I had a relaxing morning just callejeando (wandering down small streets), doing a bit of shopping and walking barefoot along the beach.

Bueno, I think I've rambled enough for now! ‘Ta luego!