Olé España

Our arrival into Cadiz, Spain was a memorable experience. Not only because it was our first sight of land in over a week, but also because a group of us took full advantage of the activities surrounding our docking. We woke up early for yoga and meditation. During meditation we focused on how small we were in the realm of this world. This is a pretty easy thing to imagine after sailing across the Atlantic for eight days. After breakfast, which is easily the best meal offered on the ship, we gathered on the front of the ship to watch the boat dock and the sunrise over the port of Cadiz. A truly gorgeous sight: the bright colors of the sun against the dark colors of the water with the white buildings in the skyline were a beautiful combination.

I was lucky to be in a group that was allowed first off the ship. We departed for the rock of Gibraltar. I signed up for this trip because ‘rock of Gibraltar’ is a place that I have learned about since lower school: the closest distance between Europe and Africa. I imagined a big rock that we would hike up and then ooh and ahh at the sight of Tangier, Morocco. I wore hiking shoes and athletic gear. The trip was nothing that I expected.
1) it was a mighty long drive about three hours through rural Spain. I felt like we were in the desert (this would become a familiar feeling as I traveled around southern Spain). One on stretch we would see the proof of progress towards sustainability. In the middle of nowhere there were hundreds of windmills and solar panels. Little towns would pop up, complete with high schools, colleges, and discothèques. On the next stretch there would be an assortment of cows and goats wandering, unfenced along the road. Farther down, two men each were carrying a shotgun presumably hunting within 50km of our bus. A sight of roman ruins, an aqueduct, standing unattended in a stream, followed this. 2) Gibraltar is a part of the UK, therefore we had to use our passports and of course eat fish n chips for lunch 3) Rock Apes are native to Gibraltar, monkeys? Who knew!



Gibraltar was my first time to really put my new camera to travel photography use, how exciting. Brad, my quiet, trying-to-find-his-way, sarcastic friend, ‘reluctantly’ posed for my photos. Brad also became used to my curiosity on our long bus ride. I would ask questions like ‘what’s that?’ ‘Why is this here?’ ‘How do you think that works?’ He would reply the best he could but eventually just relied on ‘*sigh * I don’t know Kate’ probably just to quiet me.

That night Molly Megan and I went to flamenco night and an amateur bull fight.

Later we went to a local tapas bar. Thirty-five drunken men and a wait staff that spoke no English greeted us. Confident in my Spanish skills, I ordered us drinks and ice cream. We got three of each drink I ordered, ‘the house special’ which was multiple tapas, and a little bit of ice cream. I asked the men what they are celebrating: a bachelor party! Using my finest Spanish skills we joined our fiestas together. Eventually the three of us found ourselves new members of the fiesta soltero. Want to experience a city’s culture? Go out on the town with locals for a bachelor party!


I went on a guided tour of Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. I was so happy to find out that my Santa Clara walkie-talkie crew was also going on this expedition.

In Seville we saw la plaza de Espana, la alcazar, el cathedral, and el barrio Santos.
The detail, inspired by the Moors and Arab influence, was incredible. Imagine a palace, hundreds of rooms, each room is intricately decorated: walls painted with bright colors and stuccod with eggs whites and molding, floors arithmetically tiled and interrupted with fountains in every other room, and ceilings- dios mio! The ceilings! Wood carvings or stucco with light pouring into the room through beautiful windows.

Nick, my funny, caring, observant friend, laughs when he realizes that I feel the need to touch EVERYTHING. Who wouldn’t want to? It’s hard to believe that someone took the time to carve each detail. I touch everything in the streets, the stores, and the gardens too. This gets me in trouble, especially in the garden when I grab a thorn vine and in the streets when I wander off. Nick watches out for me though- he heard from Brad that I almost got dock time in Gibraltar for being late to the bus.

Kalatrava ( not sure if that is spelled correctly but I am meaning to say the designer of the Milwaukee art museum) is from Seville. When we climbed the thirty-five flights to the top of el cathedral, it was easy to spot his designs, large, white bridges that look like they could fly away. The view from the top was breath taking. It reminded me of the view of Florence from el duomo. The walk to the top was worth every hot and chafing step. El Cathedral is the final resting spot of Christopher Columbus.
The city of Seville was much cleaner and modern than Cadiz.

The streets in Spain are crazy. Wandering the streets is my favorite thing to do. We walked down a winding alley, pressed ourselves up against a wall, and heard our guide tells us that we are infect on a two way street. As we walked through the ‘streets’ we felt like we left the main area far behind, only to come upon a huge open square with historical monuments encircling us, breaking the skyline.

We ate at an amazing restaurant located off of one of these winding streets. The tapas were traditional Spanish cuisine: jamon (their most popular dish), garlic potatoes, mushrooms, papas fritas, chorizo, and limitless wine.

Bus rides are exciting, but the scenery is monotonous. We all spend the first half hour sleeping or staring out the window. When those daydreaming realize that the landscape is as follows: cactuses, windmills, a deserted building, a coca cola billboard, cactuses, windmills.. They begin to chat; this wakes those that are sleeping. We have no problem entertaining ourselves.  George, the most abrupt, in-your-face, takes-it-a-little-too-far, intelligent guy, reads excerpts from “I hope they serve beer in hell” by Tucker Max. Harlan, a sensitive little man and an aspiring actor from down south, reads us his impromptu poetry- we snap for him. We play “hotseat”: 5 min, rapid-fire questions, and honest answers. There is never a dull conversation. Everyone is eager to talk. I don’t think the excitement of our travels or the enthusiasm of the people we are traveling with will have ware away.

Seville is advertised as one of the most hopping places in Andalusia for nightlife. So why oh why did we spend the night in Cordoba?

We stayed in the Tryp hotel: Los Gallos. The name reminded me of Vince’s build-a-bear. Taylor, my enthusiastic, kind, ambitious, amazingg friend, and I ended up being roommates. The hotel was located a short walk from the main square, yet we had to walk up and down the streets looking for an open and lively place. Granted, it was a Monday night. But this is Spain- nightlife is supposed to be hoppin’ until 6am. We found a nightclub and took it over- it was only semester at sea kids in it. They were charging really high prices so Taylor and I scouted out other locations. We found an Irish pub down the street and relocated there. Eventually, many others followed suit. I loved sitting at a table on the sidewalk watching the city life continue from the sidelines. Nick ended up talking to an international businessman (IBM) for a while- they exchanged business cards and Nick was offered a job- international networking at its finest, eh?

Our guide the next day only talked about gypsies. Refer to my gypsy journal in the post below this.

We toured the Mesquita- this was awe-inspiring. The red and white striped arches piled up in our line of sight as we walked through the mosque-turned-cathedral. In one of the rooms there was a ton of gold on display. I heard a guide (not ours, we had already ditched that crazy lady) explain that the cathedrals would parade their valuables around the town as a form of competition- the more wealth the better the church. It is interesting that money and wealth have been so intricately combined with the success of a religion for so long.



A group of us walked across an ancient Roman bridge for a panoramic view of the city. We then walked through the winding streets back towards the main square. Taylor, Nick and I went to a tapas restaurant for lunch. I had broken eggs with potatoes and chorizo- translation: scrambled eggs, French fries, and spicy sausage in a skillet. It tasted like it sounded a lot of oil over a random combination of food. Taylor and I were determined to get some fine European clothing- we ventured out in downtown Cordoba in search of fashion. While shopping I ran into a glass wall- we, along with the locals, got a great laugh out of that. All we came back with was ice cream. At least it was delicious Kinder flavored ice cream.

As we drove to Granada I felt bad for Rogo and Smiley who are studying abroad there this semester. It felt like even more desert upon desert. ALAS! As we drove into the city I was taken aback. This city was beautiful and much unlike the others we had visited in southern Spain. It was built at the base of the Sierra Mountains, so all of the buildings looked stacked upon each other. It was such a bustling city- my empathy for rogo had turned to jealousy- what a cool place to stay for a few months! Our hotel was directly across from the massive Alhambra. After our exhaustingly hot journey around Cordoba we were ecstatic to find that we had a pool at our new hotel. We played in it for hours.

We enjoyed some fine Spanish wine then ventured into the city by taxi. I enjoyed speaking Spanish with the taxi driver and the other locals we met at ‘Club Amsterdam’. Club Amsterdam was more of a sports bar than anything- except we watched bullfights and futbol rather than baseball and college football.

Our tour of the Alhambra was phenomenal. We spent about two hours touring- the Alhambra is essentially a city built for King Fernindad the fifth. Over the centuries it was used for all different purposes, therefore it was built upon and expanded for different reasons. It was interesting to see the harems and the different additions made throughout the years. Finally, we got an explanation as to why there are so many fountains in all of the Moorish influenced buildings. The ancestors of the moors came from the desert so water was scarce therefore it was a sign of prestige to have water and fountains. Also, Muslims cleanse themselves before prayer and they pray five times a day according to their five pillars- so it is nice to have the water readily available.

On our ride back to the ship we stopped at the most peculiar rest stop. There was deli, a candy store, a pottery shop, and a mechanical bullfighting ring. What an odd combination. We drove four hours back to Cadiz and we ended up being about an hour late for ‘dock time.’ Taylor and I were officially the last two people on the ship before we set off. It was incredibly windy as we set sail.

We anchored off of the familiar rock of Gibraltar. How many people can say they did crunches on the deck of a ship while looking at three different countries: the UK (Gibraltar), Spain, and Africa? Everyday I am so thankful for this experience and most definitely live each day to it’s fullest because I am always asking myself rhetorical questions like that. How am I so blessed to get to go on adventures like this?