Spain

Spain was incredible! The first day, we docked in Cadiz. Cadiz is ranked as the cleanest city in Europe. The city was beautiful and retained a lot of Spanish culture. In the first morning back on land, I ran around the city, snapping pictures, shopping, drinking sangria, and eating paella. It was glorious. That night, I went to a Flamenco Show through Semester at Sea. It was a private show, just for us, and a free glass of sangria. The show was emotional, fun, and showed a huge piece of Spanish culture. I find it so difficult to describe the feeling you get while in Spain. It is so much more than the sights, it’s the smell, the feeling, the people, and overall, the culture (Caroline, I am sure you had this issue with France as well!).

The following morning, at 6 a.m., I arose to get to the Jerez airport to fly to Barcelona! The cab ride was bout 45 minutes and as soon as we got there, we tried to check in. This didn’t happen since the airport didn’t open for another 45 minutes! After waiting for our flight for two more hours, we were finally on our way. Arriving in Barcelona at 11:00 a.m., we jumped off the plane, and headed for the next form of transportation to take us to our hostel. Did I mention that we were traveling with a group total of 12 people? I will never do that again. It is ridiculously hard to travel with that large of a group because everyone wants to do something different. After hopping three different metro trains, we ended up at the head of Las Ramblas, one of the most famous streets in Barcelona. Our hostel, was on the street, but happened to be on the other end. Finally, after much frustration from constantly stopping to look at maps, my friend Tara and I decided to go off on our own and leave the group behind. I personally didn’t care, I was happy being lost, as long as I was lost in Barcelona (Amanda, you would have been flipping out). The buildings are incredible; they are made out of beautiful stone and are simply grand.

After wondering down Las Ramblas for another 20 minutes, we reached our hostel, Kabul. It was set in a beautiful square right off Las Ramblas. We walked up two flights of stairs to get to reception only to find out we needed Audrey, the girl who booked the 10-bed room. Luckily, they were not far behind and we were able to check in relatively easily. The hostel was so much fun! People were always hanging out, getting on the Internet, drinking beer, and socializing with all of the other guests. We met so many people. The next few days in Barcelona were spent sightseeing, drinking more sangria, eating more paella, and meeting tons of people. Spaniards also eat dinner at 10 p.m. which was difficult to get used to after living in a sorority house for a year where we eat at 5. Anyways, I love Spain, and I may move there! Sorry, Mom. You can come too if you want. 

Tomorrow we arrive in Civitivecchia, Italy, which is about 45 minutes outside of Rome. I will immediately find two things: 1) an internet café to upload pictures from Spain, and 2) a post office to buy stamps to send not only Spain postcards, but also Italy postcards. If you didn’t send me your address and you want to receive postcards, please email me at kacaldwell@semesteratsea.net and you will receive one from every country starting with Italy!