Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Oops, Back to the Blog...


Hello everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posts, I’m not sure how so much time has passed but things are definitely picking up speed! Unfortunately my mom is gone, but I immensely enjoyed her 2-week stay! After our weekend in Paris we spent 3 days in Bilbao (I had to get back to the “study” aspect of “study abroad”) and she wasn’t feeling well so some down time was nice. The hotel we stayed at was absolutely amazing; it was right on the beach and called High-Tech which we soon learned was a fair name because the room was decked out in modern décor. We meant to take pictures but as with many things, time slipped away – I found a room key in my backpack the other day and jokingly told a friend I wanted to sneak in to do some belated documenting; I’m not really going to. The only minor-downside was the lack of restaurant options; we kept going back to the same place (which was fine with me because it had a great view and good food) but we ordered the same pizza to split each time so I regret not being able to show her more variety. She did try various tapas (or pintxos as they are called in Basque Country) so go mom!

Anyway, the second weekend we decided to rent a car from the airport and take a leisurely trip up the coast, ending in Bordeaux. We were given the option of a Spanish gps system or paying extra for an English speaking one; logically we chose the English one in hopes of lessening our stress level the first time on European roads. While our intentions were good, the Brit (nickname my mom gave it because it had a British accent) had other ideas. Along the way were told to turn left (into a brick wall), turn right (off the cliff, into the ocean), go down a dead end street, take the 7th exit on a roundabout that only had 5 exits, and make a u-turn onto the train tracks. I know driving is different here, but I’m pretty sure those requests are hazardous in any country! Being who we are, we made the best of it and tried to laugh most of it off. The first place we stopped along the way was Biarritz, France because my Dad has been there and said how great it was and my mom heard of a chocolate factory that sounded neat. Unfortunately, when we got there it was pouring rain so we had to stay in the car during our little tour, but the town looked really cute and we saw a surf competition going on! If I had more time here I definitely would have liked to take at least a day trip back to spend some time walking around and seeing all the beautiful beaches. The chocolate factory didn’t seem to exist, at least not where the Brit insisted it was, so we gave up and continued on to Bordeaux.

By the time we made it to Bordeaux the trip had taken much longer than anticipated and with the chaos of wrong directions we were both a bit frustrated. Not wanting to ruin the mood of the rest of the weekend we forced ourselves to go get some dinner and explore the city, definitely a wise decision! We had a great meal and ended up taking a bike tour through the entire city at night! It was amazing, the lady who gave the tour spoke perfect English (there were French people on it too but they didn’t seem interested so it was 85% directed towards us) and we saw everything lit up which was great! Having a much better outlook on Bordeaux we set out Saturday morning to reserve a wine tour but unfortunately our plan to “wing the weekend” didn’t work out because nothing was open until Sunday morning so we spent the day relaxing, walking around, and then got dinner at the fair – amusing people watching!  Sunday morning we woke up early excited to have a tour of a winery in a medieval village then do a tasting, however that’s not exactly how it went. The drive out there was entirely fogged in so we couldn’t see the scenery and when we arrived in the town it was all closed up because it was a Sunday morning, everyone’s lazy day worldwide. We walked around for a bit and found these little cakes that are specialties of Bordeaux – oh my gosh, I could eat them all day for the rest of my life! They were created long ago when wine makers had a bunch of egg yokes left over (the last step of wine making was to ferment it through egg whites) and didn’t want to throw them away so these cakes were envisioned. Best dessert I’ve ever had, hands down, which is saying a lot because I’m not a big sweets person. The “wine tour/tasting” aspect of the day was much simpler than expected because all the vineyards are apparently on the outskirts of town and all that was open was a small shop but we still got to taste a few wines.

Overall the weekend was a success! The occasional moments of frustration were certainly outweighed by the scenery, bike tour, and food. I never thought I’d be one to rave about the food in so many places, but now that I’m not allergic to dairy I’m loving it! It also helped that my mom and I would just wander aimlessly and find the little hole in the wall places. I’m bummed that she is gone and it went by so quickly, I feel like I have way more I wanted her to see in Spain. I’ve decided it just means we have to come back, hopefully my Dad can make it too!

My second of three Spanish classes officially ended today, I’m in denial that it is already November; only 15 days of class left! This weekend I am going to Switzerland, next weekend I am going to Sevilla in Southern Spain, Thanksgiving weekend I am going to the Canary Islands, then the following weekend I’m off on my 8 day trip to England and Ireland – aka things are just getting started!!!! I will try not to let this much time go by before I post again. Hope everything is going well in America, I suppose I’ll be there soon….

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