Ronda & Malaga

This past weekend I traveled with my program to the Spanish cities, Ronda and Malaga. We first stopped in Malaga and saw the famous bridge connecting the two sides of the city, toured the Ernest Hemmingway gardens overlooking the Spanish countryside and saw the remains of an Arabic bathhouse. Ronda was small but quaint and beautiful, a great day trip complete with the first good pizza I have had in Spain! That night and all Sunday we spent in Malaga. Malaga is double the size of Granada and is situated on the Costa del Sol of Spain, right across from Morocco. While in Malaga we toured the Alcazaba, an old Moorish fortress that housed the palace of the governors back in the day. And right outside this fortress sits an old roman theater that is currently being restored to its former glory. Luckily after the tours we had some free time to go and sit by the sea and enjoy a nice lunch and drinks. All in all it was a great weekend and the last of my six consecutive weekends of travel. Now time for a week of studying and rest before we head to Morocco on the 28th!

                                                        Dinner in Malaga

                                                               Ronda Bridge

                                                               Malaga

                                                              Malaga

                                                            Ronda

Family Visit

Last weekend my parents and grandparents came to visit me in Granada and then we all went up to Barcelona for the weekend. It was great to have some visitors and finally get some good food and sleep! The two days they were in Granada I had class so they toured the Alhambra one day and the next we met up after my class and all went to visit the Catedral in the city center. Then on friday we headed up to Barcelona. Unfortunately the first day we were there it was raining so we couldn't go sightseeing but ended up having an amazing lunch at this restaurant in the harbor. Seafood is one of the number one things they eat here in Spain and it was especially fresh in Barcelona since the city is right on the sea. That night we went to the famous Les 4 Gats restaurant for my grandpa's birthday. It is a centenarian restaurant, meaning it has been there for over 100 years. After our huge lunch we had that day I wasn't very hungry but the food the rest of my family got was great. Finally on the last day I had with them we got to do some real sightseeing. We went up to Parc Guell, a housing community designed by Gaudi that unfortunately lost its funding in the early 1900s. But has since been turned into a UNESCO World Heritage site that you can visit for free and see the house that Gaudi lived in for 20 years. The park was beautiful with its entrance resembling Alice and Wonderland. After our trip there we went to La Sagrada Familia. Which unfortunately was closed for the day so we were only able to view the outside. Overall it was a great weekend filled with good food, drinks and company.I was so glad my family got the chance to visit and see where I am studying abroad!