My First Incursion into Northern Spain

Last week, an amiga and I embarked on our first visit to Northern Spain, Santander to be exact.  This was a no-brainer trip for me as I'd heard great things about Santander last semester from a close friend who had studied there before, I was curious to compare Northern Spain with my home base in the south, and the Santander flight route is one of the cheapest you'll find direct from Sevilla (about €30/$40 roundtrip).

Although the flight into Santander was one of the bumpiest I've experienced (easily the windiest city I've been to while abroad), it was another painless domestic flight in which the take-off/landing processes were longer than the actual flight time and with Spanish flag carrier airline Iberia experiencing fairly regular strikes until this past week, I had to be all the more grateful for Ryanair.

The first thing I noticed when flying into Santander was how green and mountainous the terrain was, as opposed to the relatively brown flatlands that can be found surrounding Sevilla.  At around 180,000 people, Santander is the 35th largest city in Spain and therefore a lesser-known travel destination.  This fact was evident through the quiet streets and our accommodation, one of few budget hostels located in town in which we had a decently cheap two bed private room with a far different atmosphere to those I've experienced in Berlin, Barcelona, or even Marrakech.  However, I obviously expected Santander to be a different experience to those global metropolises and it played its role to perfection.  Although Santander and the rest of Northern Spain has a reputation for being rainy year-round, we lucked out by having to dodge downpours just one night.  This made our day-to-day trekking much easier and it allowed us to explore some of the coolest natural scenery I've seen in Spain or anywhere.

Bilbao, home to around 350,000 people (Spain's 10th largest), the famous Guggenheim Museum, and the center of the globally intriguing Basque Country, was next on the list and a short, scenic bus ride away.  With Kaixo being Hello, Eskerrik asko meaning Thank You, and Ez dakit euskaraz hits egiten translating as I can't speak Basque, it is very easy to see how the Basque language is not related to any language across the globe (somewhat supporting their consistent pleas for independence).  Coming into the trip, I knew the Basque Country was an extremely proud region and I wasn't sure which action among speaking fluent English, decent Spanish, or butchered Basque would offend them most, a feeling I had experienced with my first taste of Portuguese in Lisbon last term.  Luckily, Spanish is just as common in both areas so while I'm eager to gain some skills in Portuguese, I steered clear of Basque for this time around.

Language aside, I found my first trip to Bilbao and the Basque Country to be incredible.  Formerly known as "Spain's Pittsburgh" due to its rich history in heavy industry, Bilbao has been transformed through numerous projects of urban renewal including a new airport, rapid transit system, distinctive buildings like the Guggenheim, and numerous green spaces like the former steel factory turned park overlooking the city known as Etxeberria (probably my favorite part of Bilbao).  As urban planning is one of my favorite subjects, I find it all the more fascinating that an example of such successful revitalization is occurring in the Iberian Peninsula, an area currently plagued by economic crises.

Overall, my brief four day tour of Santander and Bilbao left me with great impressions of Northern Spain.  While I absolutely love calling Sevilla home, having mountains and beaches next to alluring urban architecture was a refreshing change to life here.  Unlike major cities involved in my past travels, I came to Santander and Bilbao with no set expectations and left appreciating the added understanding they had given me towards my host country, precious knowledge I consider as valuable as learning a language.

It's an amazing experience to see a country's most prized city like a London, Paris, or Rome and all the treasures they have to offer but at times the most rewarding adventures lie beyond the beaten paths.  I've been fortunate to have lived in Spain long enough to be able to explore some of its roads less traveled and hidden gems and I hope to get the opportunity to do so with as many places as possible in the future in order to get an inside look on what constitutes each country and makes it stand out from the rest.  This trip reflected that inside-look philosophy and I look forward to seeing where the next cheap flight takes me and what it teaches me.

With a fast-approaching break in Sevilla, for the world-renowned Semana Santa (Holy Week), due to begin next week, I'm off to take a closer look at neighboring Portugal and experience one of Spain's most renowned festivals. As always, my not-so-pro trip pics can be seen on my Facebook.

!Hasta luego!

From Barcelona to Belgium, A Loaded February

With the shortest month of the year coming to a close, I thought I would look back on another successful period of my enhanced education through travel.

A place that I knew I was going to and had to visit while in Spain was Barcelona.  Before making it to the city, I knew it was home to some unique architecture, a great football club, and the base of the Catalan independence movement.  Once I spent four days there, I quickly realized why it's the most popular city to visit in Spain.  Its well-mixed blend of big city perks, student-friendly prices, diverse geography, stunning seaside location, numerous otherworldly sights and attractions, and countless additional assets make Barcelona the perfect travel destination for anyone and although I was prepared for the differences of the Catalan language and culture, I thought it was easy to communicate in Spanish compared to the fast-paced abbreviated accents of Andalusia and I found the locals unusually helpful, relaxed, and inviting for a city of its multi-million person size...it must be because they live in Barcelona!

Although basing my travel plans out of a larger airport system like that of Madrid or Barcelona would undoubtedly lead to the luxury of cheaper flights and a more diverse array of destinations, Sevilla has held its own when it comes to pleasing my travel bug.  So when a roundtrip flight from Sevilla to Brussels for under $100 popped up last month, I jumped on it and excitedly awaited my first trip to Belgium.

With hostels being less abundant and more expensive in Brussels than other European metropolises ($25-$30/night is usually too fancy a price for this guy) and its discount air hub ("Brussels" South Charleroi Airport) being an hour bus ride into the city with a 13€ one way/22€ roundtrip ticket cost, my eagerness to explore this new destination initially clashed with the fear of losing the rest of my funds to it.  Thankfully, Brussels and Belgium would prove to be far more manageable money-wise once I arrived in full tourist mode.

Returning to 20-something degree weather, I designed my trip uniform for the long days of exploration ahead (from what I had brought in my Ryanair-legit school backpack) which included 5 layers on top (an undershirt, a couple long-sleeved tees, a fleece jacket, and a rain jacket), a scarf, beanie, and gloves.  After getting a decent grasp of Brussels over my first couple days of the trip, I found it similar to Berlin as a quirky (what other city in the world has a tiny statue of a boy peeing listed as a main attraction), developing city with a promising future, while certainly lacking Berlin's history, nightlife, and budget travel appeal.  However, I had known that it was what laid beyond Brussels that would define my first Belgian experience.

An advantage of having four days in Belgium is that it's a small country with a great rail system and no city is too far away.  With this in mind, I took a 30 minute train from Brussels to Ghent, a canal-filled college town and Belgium's fourth largest metro area.  Much of Ghent's medieval architecture remains intact (my hostel was in a 13th century building) and it became my favorite of the 3 cities I visited on this trip.  Its architecture, city layout, and nightlife gave me a feeling of Amsterdam on a smaller scale and I vowed to return one year for my birthday during the famous Ghent Festival of late July.

Saying goodbye to Ghent for the time being, I took another 30 minute west-bound train to Bruges, one of Belgium's most visited towns with a UNESCO-approved historic city center.  The circular historic center holds less than a quarter of the city's current population and is somewhat cut off from it due to the ancient city gates and a surrounding moat-like canal, but it's filled with an abundance of medieval architecture extremely pleasing to the eye.  Bruges seemed similar to Ghent with less students and more tourists and while its nightlife is nearly nonexistent, I was fortunate enough to tour the last family brewery within the old city and have a bar connected to my hostel, which helped me in my quest to sample as many beers as possible during my stay in Belgium.

Belgium's mix of old-world architecture, astounding variety of quality beer (the fries, waffles, and chocolate lived up to the reputation also), and ease of accessibility across the country make for an incredible trip.  As I've said about Berlin, I would absolutely love to return when I can explore in a t-shirt and enjoy a beer outside.  Appropriately, my March will be characterized by touring some new destinations in Southern Europe while savoring the good life here in Southern Spain.

Happy Andalusia Day from Sevilla!

New Year, New Experiences in the European Playground

Another fairly long hiatus in my young blogging career has been occupied by some continued adventures of personally epic proportions...

With the Fall term coming to a close in Sevilla a few days before Christmas, I was fortunate enough to spend the holidays with my amazing relatives in London.  As I've been keen to travel around the UK more and tour the many attractions that can be found outside London, I was thrilled when we spent a few days after Christmas in Cornwall, a region in southwest England home to some beautiful scenery that depicts the richness of English history, a subject that I find fascinating.  I was later able to spend New Years with my cousin in Brighton, a vibrant college town and travel destination on the southern English coast that I found similar to San Francisco in many ways, notably the landscape and lifestyle.

Maybe the biggest benefit of having a base in London, next to exploring one of the globe's great cities and being spoiled by family, is having the world's largest airport system at your disposal and being able to find competitive prices across 6 international airports in order to travel to exciting destinations that are far tougher to reach from many other places, like Florida and Sevilla.  Aware of my advantage as always, I knew I wanted to make a January trip to somewhere new on the cheap and Berlin emerged as my choice.

Just 22 years removed from German reunification, Berlin has arisen from an infamous 20th Century, that notably made it a center of Hitler's Nazi Germany and Cold War affairs, and has lately caught the world's interest as a major travel destination, so I was excited to have 6 days to get to know this buzzing New Berlin while examining the notorious scenes of years past.

While wandering around the city, I found it most fascinating and unique to experience the mixed atmosphere Berlin exudes stemming from Soviet control in the former Eastern half (where my hostel was) with American, British, and French occupation of the former Western half and how fast it's currently developing for the future, with an immense amount of building projects present throughout the city.  I kept thinking that I'd love to come back to Berlin a few years down the road with friends or family to see how it's progressing.

My time in the German capital was characterized by trekking around town Jason Bourne-style for a good 8-10 hours each day, meeting new friends at my hostel (as this was another solo trip), putting my one semester of learning German at UF to use, and trying to stay warm in the 20 degrees and snowing weather.  When flights cost $40 roundtrip and accommodation $5/night it's tough to be mad at the weather or anything else and Berlin really impressed me and became one of my new favorite cities.  I highly recommend all other no-income nomads and European travelers looking for a fun town with lots to see and do for cheap to make the trip to Berlin, perhaps in summer if you'd rather have a beer outside like myself. 

With my Berlin exploits behind me, I returned to my Spanish host family in Sevilla (same family from Fall) almost 2 weeks ago and am now getting adjusted to the new Spring semester, playing tour guide to the new hordes of international students, happily being mistaken for Spanish at times (until one hears my accent), and am entering my 8th month in Europe.

While I undoubtedly miss my friends and family back home and wish they were here to share these experiences with me, I'm thrilled to have settled into my life overseas and even happier that I chose to study abroad for a full year.  Having another semester here gives me more time to explore and learn about Sevilla, travel to other alluring Spanish cities that I knew little about before living here (like Santander, San Sebastian, and Santiago de Compostela), and enhance my personal ambitions of traveling, working, and living abroad in the future.

Besides, theres no time for homesickness when I ONLY have 4 months left here....and when your biggest stresses in life are deciding where to go out and what new place to travel to on your 4 day weekends, you better hold onto and enjoy that lifestyle!

As always, I've uploaded the obnoxious amount of pictures I've taken to Facebook in order to fully illustrate my travels from December and January and to capture small parts of what these amazing places have to offer!

Good luck to everyone in the start of 2013 and Go Gators!!!