It has been quite and eventful week! For once, the sun finally came out. We spent almost all of Tuesday on the beach. On Wednesday, it was my 21st birthday. For class, we all made smores (which was a first for our professor). After class, we spent the afternoon on the beach (it was sunny!) until lunch. At lunch, Carmen (my host mom) made an excellent meal. Complete with some bubbly (champagne) and a giant Hoho (those Little Debbie snacks) for my cake. Later in the day, we watched Pan’s Labyrinth and afterwards went out to the bar. At the bar, they surprised me with song and more cake then later went dancing. In essence, it was a pretty good birthday.
Friday we went to my friends house for a mini-party. They have very young parents and are a lot of fun. We spent most of the night in their house. On Saturday, we went to the “grand canyon” of Spain. It was a really cool national park and long ago, the entire park was a gigantic lake/river. Erosion happened however, and the ground literally fell one day (river included) so now there are near vertical cliffs about 200ft high. After the canyon, we went to another national park which had some pretty cool caves in it. We spent a few hours just walking around there. After the caves, we went to a medieval town. The town looks the same way now as it did 800 years ago. All the buildings are still intact and there are no signs of any modern influence (except for cars since people still live there).
Sunday was planned for the beach, but of course it was cloudy all day. (There have one been three days so far that were cloud-free). Instead we went to the gypsy market in town. It was basically a huge flea market (except run by the gypsies). They had literally everything I could think of there all for dirt cheap. I’m sure all their brand name items were the real deal as well (and not homemade with fake logos).
Today we plan on going to the city of Toro. They supposedly have some of the best wine in the world. After Toro, we’re going salsa dancing. Then on Wednesday, me and some friends are going to Valencia for the weekend. It should be a blast. I’ll let you know how it is when I return.
Here’re the pics:
Hey there Kevin! HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY!!!! Wow, how the times flies by. I drive by your house and think of you often and wonder how you are doing. You sound as though you are having a wonderful time in Spain. You are so fortunate to have this trip of a lifetime! Its been over a year now since I’ve been at the theater (I mean literally stepping into the theater!!) Seen Doc on a couple of occasions and he’s doing well. I’m still trying to get over the fact that you’re 21 now … I remember you when you were a wee little lad at the theater. Take care and enjoy! Please keep in touch when you get back to go ol’ Minnesota!