Day 4 - Sevilla, Malaga

Today I finished my morning off in Sevilla, visiting Alcazar, a royal residence in Sevilla. In spain, lots of tourist attractions give discounts to students, usually 50% or more off of the price. It only cost me 2 euros to visit here! I travelled by train in the afternoon to Malaga, and found myself quite tired on arrival. Nevertheless, I set out to explore the city, visiting the Birthplace of Picaso, a museum with lots of Picasso art, the Malaga cathedral, and walking along the port. My feet were in lots of pain again, and I retired to my hotel early. Hence the time to work on these postings!

Enjoy :)

Alcazar - the oldest royal residence in Europe. Beutiful rooms filled with intricate details, different works of art, and a large garden to explore.

Me inside the palace.

Outside in the gardens near a fountain. It was quite beutiful just strolling through the trees and the well groomed bushes. Very relaxing.

Sevilla Cathedral in the daytime. This picture does not do justice to it's size!

My hotel in Malaga. Very nice. Lots of space. Fancy bathroom! There is a slide in the lobby. Will take a picture of it tomorrow.

Streets of Malaga.

Did you know Picaso was born in Malaga? I did not know either! Lots of Picaso works to see here.

Cool piece of Picaso art. I secretly took this picture as cameras were not allowed.

Me in front of the birthplace of Pablo Picaso. It's the leftmost yellow house.

First site of ocean as the sun was setting.

The Malaga Cathedral at night. Christmas lights on orange trees line the entrance.

Churros dipped in chocolate for dinner. Why not? Yes, that is a cup of chocolate :)

Night lights in Malaga. Streets were full of performers, people, and just an overall upbeat vibe. Lots of fun.

Day 3 - Sevilla, Spain

This day I had an entire day in Sevilla. Lots of time to explore, visit various landmarks, and shop! I didn't think I would actually have time to stop in at shops and buy things, but I did! I found a nice dress, and some cool pottery from a small shop a walk away from town. Talked with the artist, which was really cool!

My feet were definitely hurting at the end of the day. Over 12 hours of walking will do that I guess. Got a lot ground covered in one day. Went to a Flamenco show at night, which is a presentation of traditional dance. I finished the evening with a nice meal at a cool restaurant named La Bulla. All of the waitors have been so nice! Trying to speak english to me, giving me free drinks, having a laugh. It was a nice place, but I did not finish eating until midnight, although that seems to be the norm here.

Here are some pics from the day.

View of Sevilla from the Torre del Oro, or the 12 sided Tower of Gold.

Me at the top of the tower! There were lots of maritime artificats contained here, but the best part of the tower was the view of the city.

Walking across a bridge. View of the tower in the background.
Lunch. Or more accurately, tapas. This was some sort of grilled pork on bread, and it was quite tastey!

Inside the Sevilla Cathedral. Dad, I thought you would like this. This is the tomb of Christopher Columbus.

Me in the courtyard of the Cathedral. Self timer on the camera came in handy!

Walking the streets of Sevilla. Lots of stopping in the little shops, and just walking with no plan in mind. Just exploring.

This is not a great picture, but it was at a Flamenco show in Sevilla. At this show they feature traditional dancing and singing. It was fantastic!

Dinner at La Bulla. Not sure exactly what this is, it was some sort of Peruvian food - stuffed with chiken, pork, and egg. Almost tasted like couscous, with discoveries of different items within it!

Day 2 - Madrid and Sevilla

My second day began with a 3 hour bike tour of Madrid. It was a fantastic way to visit the entire city, with all the important landmarks, in such a short period of time. It turned out the other biker cancelled, so it was my own personal tour! My guide did a great job telling me the history of the city and the particular buildings, and showed me lots of interesting non-tourist spots too (like a small guitar making shop that has been in one family for many, many years). There is no way I would have been able to see all of this on my own, so I am really glad to have done it!

In the afternoon, I travelled via high speed train to Sevilla. Sevilla is an old, old city, with tiny streets that create a maze. When I arrived, the sun had already set so the streets were dark. They were also packed with people, basically ever inch was full. My cab driver could not get me close to my hotel because the streets were closed, so he pointed down a small alley, and told me to go right. I said thanks! However, when I turned right, I found a maze of streets. I had no map. I asked as many people as I could for help, and it was a miracle I made it!

My evening was spent eating a nice meal, exploring the streets, and taking lots of pictures. It was so nice to get to my hotel knowing I would stay there for two nights. I could actually unpack a bit! The hotel was great - it was nice and small, and the staff were very helpful. I was told which restaurants were a must, and which sites I had to see in the time I had. And again, it was right in the city, in the heat of it all!

Here are some pics!

The start of the bike tour. A nice view overlooking the outskirts of Madrid.

This is the Palacio Real, or the Royal Palace. A very large building, surrounded by official gaurds. While there, we even caught the changing of the gaurds ceremony!

Me in front of a cool door!

The oldest restaurant in the world (according to Guiness Book of World records!) Established in 1705.

My bike from the bike tour!

My hotel in Sevilla! Much bigger than my previous hotel.

Enjoying the Christmas lights in Sevilla. Using my new map to find my way around the narrow streets.

Catedral de Sevilla. This is the largest gothic building in the world!

Day 1 - Madrid, Spain

Hello Everyone!

I have finally had an evening where I can sit down for a bit of time to upload pictures of my recent trip. As my trip continues and I reach Tanzania, my posts will likely become more scarce, but I will do my best to keep you all updated! As you may or may not know, I am travelling through Spain, The Netherlands, and ultimately Tanzania. I will be in Tanzania for about 2.5 weeks, where I will be working at the Pamoja Tunaweza Women's Centre, to help with a medical caravan. I can't wait to get there! Given that I am on holidays, I decided to travel a bit through Europe before Tanzania, and am having a great time. Lots to see and do in such a short period of time, but great fun for sure.

I have included pictures in my posts, and will try to write some accompanying information when I have the chance. The posts may be more pictures than writing, but I figured that is better than nothing.

As you can see, I am using my old blog site from when I previously travelled to Tanzania. The title "lost in translation" is still quite fitting in Spain. People speaking English are hard to come across, so I am trying to use as many spanish words as possible, which is not very much! I have learned a few key words, like water, bill, etc. Most of the time I just laugh as I try to get what I am saying across.

The pics below are from my first night in Madrid. I spent the evening exploring the streets, becoming familiar with the area, and planning my next few days as best I could. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the snow back home (if there is any!)

Lots of love,

Whitney

p.s. I would also like to apologize in advance that all the pictures of myself are very similar. It is hard to switch up the self-portrait.


My first hotel room. Quite small, but very cute! Just what I needed, a nice bed.First taste of Madrid. Located directly outside of my hotel room. Lots of people celebrating the holiday season.


Excited for the start of my trip!

After walking the streets of Madrid, I realized at 10pm that I had not eaten since 7am. This pizza was so delicious!