My time has come to an end in Spain and it’s back to the UK I go. Things didn’t really work out at my internship so I decided it was best to head back to where my family are and see if I can pick up some casual work while I’m there before my Africa tour starts.
My last week in Spain was fantastic as a special someone came to visit me. While I was expecting the lovely Alice to come and spend a week with me it was actually Michael who came to surprise me, everyone was in on the secret but me, I had no idea! Because I had already finished up at the paper I was able to spend the entire 5 days with him and because he had hired a car we were able to drive around and see some of the surrounding villages and towns so it was a great way to end my days in Spain.
We visited Casares which was a typically old school Spanish village with white washed walls and cute old Spanish men sitting on benches chatting the day away. We also drove to Ronda about an hour away which was beautiful and had a very ancient history feel to it. There was a large Moroccan influence there with many of the shops seeling typically Moroccan ceramics and tea sets, it was nice to be reminded of my time spent in Marrakech. And of course I couldn’t leave Spain without visiting the village Júzcar, also known as the smurf village. It was absolutely hilarious! All the houses are painted blue and there are smurf drawings and statues around the village, they definitely found a niche market and it’s certainly a successful way to attract the tourists and make money! Apparently before the village was painted blue and had the smurf theme they attracted around 300 tourists a year but in the six months since the smurf theme took over they had 80,000 tourists so they are reaping the rewards.
The weekend before my surprise visit Dana and I escaped and spent 3 days in Sevilla about a 4 hour bus trip away. There are not many big cities that I would refer to as beautiful and clean but Sevilla was definitely one of them. There were beautiful parks and gardens one of which was hosting a festival of nations and Australia made the cut! At the Aussie bar you could buy a Fosters beer and eat a Sydney burger; steak in a bun, very Australian! The cathedral and palace gardens were beautiful, it was nice to just walk around and admire the views and stop for a picnic in the park, jamón and cheese on a baguette!
Because Estepona is very small it was also nice to just be in the hustle and bustle of a city again where there were endless bars and restaurants to choose from, the best tapas I’ve had so far in one of them! Dana and I also dressed up for the night and had a very romantic date night, dinner followed by a flamenco show.
Tomorrow, 25 October, I leave and head back to the UK. Part of me is sad that I won’t be spending the full 2 months here that I had planned. My Spanish is still extremely basic so the longer I stay the better chance I would have of improving it. I also love the lifestyle over here, while some may complain at everything being closed on Sunday I love it. It means you have to relax and take a rest because there’s nothing else to do! The food of course will be greatly missed although I’m sure my waistline will appreciate the break from churros. I’m looking forward though to going back to the UK and spending more time with my family and my friend Alice. It will be nice to be around familiar faces and the comfort of my home away from home.
Just have to survive the cold and then Africa in December here I come!
