A Spanish Change

What We Learned and Loved while in Spain

Tapas bar, pick what you like!

        1.      Tapas Are Delicious- they are a must when visiting a culture that drinks wine or beer all throughout the day. Especially when alcohol costs as much as a bottle of water and sodas are served from glass bottles, not from the fountain.

With a landscape like this, who would want
to work?

     2.     Mañana- that life is too short to stress about things being done today! Spaniards work to live instead of living to work.  There is always tomorrow.

View from the top of Sierra Bernia.
The road up was narrow switchbacks with no guard rail. 

     3.     At Your Own Risk- safety and protection is not guaranteed. You must practice caution and rely on your own intelligence.

Maxing & Relaxing 

     4.      Siesta- created when everyone worked outside and needed to escape the midday heat. Today it does not make sense from an economic point of view but it is still practiced out of tradition. We learned to love it because you need the rest before beginning the late night fiesta.

Sunshine & Palm Trees

    5.     Spain Is the Florida of Europe- with roughly 300 days of sunshine, it is a popular place to retire, and tourism is one of the top grossing industries.  

With Aunt Maria's cooking
we ate like a King & Queen

     6.  Garlic, Olive Oil, & Onions- are the three must have ingredients when cooking Spanish food.  Spain produces more olive oil than any other country.

Flamenco Show in Seville

    7.      Flamenco- is a passionate, soulful, and exotic Andalusian tradition. The artists are    lyrically, musically, and rhythmically gifted individuals.  After watching a Flamenco show, even with the language barrier, we felt spirited, sensuous, and energized.      

Our favorite beach in Moraira 

8.      Seaside Mountains- the best of both terrains side by side! The Mediterranean Sea brings in a dynamite breeze, cooling off the heat of the day. The mountain views are the perfect background for an outstanding Spanish sunset.  

Fundraising Dinner for the Arts
of Calpe. The later the better!

         9.      Mealtime Is Debatable- Traditional Spanish meal breakdown goes as follows: café & baguette for breakfast at around 10:00am, then a late lunch at about 3:00 pm usually the heaviest meal of the day, with such a late afternoon meal dinner is between 10:00-11:00 pm. Re Energizing them for a late night of fiesta.

Lamb, Pork, & Rabbit Paella

10.  Paella- is a delicious Spanish treat; made with convenient local ingredients, rice, and Saffron…i.e. if you live by the sea it usually has fish, prawn, and shell fish…Or if you live in the mountains it would consist of lamb, pork, chicken, or beef. There are as many different types of Paella as there are different types of Spaniards.  

     Words cannot express how much we have fallen in love with the Spanish culture & countryside!  We are very sad to leave but the time has come for our journey around Europe to continue. Next we will visit Barcelona, then hussle through France with limited time to sightsee (we will return to visit France later in the year) because we must be in the United Kingdom by July 1 or we could face problems with immigration for overstaying the Schengen zone 90 day limit.  

Mi Familia

June 13, 2013

We have been eagerly awaiting my Aunt and Uncles arrival in Spain!  They have given us the best wedding present; allowing us to stay in their gorgeous villa for 3 months. It has been a once in a lifetime experience and a honeymoon we will never forget.  We have become familiar with Calpe and are adjusting to the Spanish way of life quite nicely.  Being that my Aunt is a native we knew that once they were here we would be shown a more intimate side of Spanish culture. 

On the first day of their arrival they invited us to a traditional late Spanish lunch-served at 3pm- at one of their favorite restaurants.  As we looked for parking in the old town Aunt Maria quickly pointed out a back alley lot, where we ended up getting to park for free because of her connections with locals. As we approached our destinations she was greeted with open arms by the owner of the family run business.  This was our first time sharing a meal with someone who spoke Spanish, let alone being friends with owners. We were ushered into the back dining area dangling above or head were rows and rows of vintage wine bottles.  From floor to ceiling the walls were covered in hand painted Spanish tiles. Aunt Maria told us that we were sitting in what used to be a traditional Spanish home that was converted in to a restaurant years ago.  Speaking the language beautifully, Aunt Maria took control of ordering for everyone. By Spanish law restaurants must offer two specialty menus each day that include three courses and one beverage.   We started with a round of beers and tapas which included homemade potato salad, baby prawn, and pan fried lamb chops.  For the main course we were served pallaea made of pork and vegetables with a complimentary bottle of roija – red Spanish wine. For dessert we had the choice between pudding sprinkled with cinnamon and a cookie or watermelon, I had the pudding it was delicious.    

After leaving with our bellies full we headed back to the villa for afternoon swim.  I sat in the sun the rest of the day getting to know my second cousin Gabrielle, whom I had never met.  We shared stories of our childhood and talked about each other’s dreams and ambitions. At 26 years old I find it disheartening that I still have so many family members close to my age that I have never met.  Gabrielle told me about her siblings and what it was like to travel throughout Europe; I took notes on every suggestion she made.  Even though our visit was short we planned to meet up again in London where she will do an internship for part of the summer.

 

Life is full of surprises!  I look forward to each new day with excitement and anticipation. I am thrilled to have a chance to visit with my Aunt and Uncle. I plan on soaking up all their stories and truly expressing appreciation for having family like them.

With family in mind; Father’s Day is Sunday!! Don’t forget to tell your fathers, father-in-laws, or anyone who has been like a father to you just how much you love and value having them in your life.  Let them know how often you think of them by taking the time to give them a call or by going and spending some time with them.  Happy Father’s Day Diddy & John!   

Amigos

June 9, 2013   

Allan, Jo, Colleen, Ob, myself & Mecca

Before this journey I went through a drastic period of personal growth. Spending two years discovering the person I would like to be, I graduated college and got married. During that process I weeded out dead weight from my life…i.e. people that brought me down, bad habits, and unneeded stress.  Since leaving the states my growth has continued, which I expected. I did not expect to strengthen friendships with those at home from so far away, nor did I expect to make new lifelong connections with people in Europe, but that is exactly what happened. 

Graham & Dorothy

                          

Indian Cuisine for Our 1st Time

The locals we have become friends with have shown us what genuine kindness really is! They have taken us out to eat, welcomed us to their homes, invited us to their birthday parties, trusted us to watch their children, and introduced us to their friends and family throughout Europe, to ensure we have the best travel experience. They have taught us first hand that your profession, your age, the language(s) you speak, and where you were born does not matter.

Pool Party & Cookout 

Drinking at our local
watering hole.

 In America when you meet someone new, aside from their name, the first thing most people ask is, “What do you do for a living?”  Who a person is, is not shaped by how they earn a living! Now when I meet someone for the first time, I ask “What brings you here?” It is a great way to find out why a person is either at the same bar you happen to be at or why they are in the same city/ country that you are in.  It opens discussion to flow in a variety of directions, not narrowing the conversation to how they put food on the table or how they have means to travel. It eliminates the arrogance one feels they need to put on when defending how much money they have in their bank accounts and allows two humans to talk about a simple commonality the two strangers currently share…i.e. being in the same place at the same time.  In some situations profession is eventually talked about but it is not the basis of the conversation.  Give it a try sometime and see how different your conversation is! You will notice that it takes people off guard, making them think in more about their answer.  Steering them away from their got to prewritten script about who they are based on what they do for money. 

You are as good as the company you keep! The more good people you know the greater your chances are for new experiences, making real connections with people, and further developing your circle of friends.  It takes one genuine interaction to produce more opportunities to branch out and     meet new people.       

Kayaking Kindness

June 1, 2013

 Welcome warm weather and sunny days! Since our arrival we have been itching to splash around in the Mediterranean Sea. We have looked into a number of ways to see Calp from the water; private boat excursion, jet ski, and kite surfing. Today we decided to be swept away with the current on a two person sea kayak.

Taking local advice we visited a nearby water sport rental facility and met some of the nicest Spaniards yet. We were greeting by a water sport pro, who inquired where we were from as soon as we said Hola! Even with our attempt to speak Spanish our foreign accent is detected immediately. American English is not often heard in this part of Spain so it is obvious to most everyone that hears us we are from the US.  They call us “Yanks;” which is rather funny to us because in the United States we would not be considered Yankee’s; we are from North Carolina, Charlotte, to be exact that would make us southerners by American standards.

Before embarking on our sea adventure, no paperwork was filled out, they did not ask for our credit card, nor did they ask us to sign any accident waiver. We simply loaded our snorkeling gear, put on our life vest, were asked if we needed anything kept dry in a locker-for free- and we were off to sea.  After marveling at the outstanding view of the Rock of Ifach we decided that was the direction we would head after getting geared up. Although we would be paddling against the current at first the way home would be a breeze.  The fasted way to any location is a straight line so we deviated away from the coast and headed through the deep sea straight for the coves at the bottom of the rock. 

 

The clear blue salty water sprayed our lips with each broken wave.  The clear sea acted as a mirror of the floor below; in the shallow parts we could see the white sun bleached sand, as be passed over patches of coral the water became mysterious with a dark blue hue.  In addition to the beautiful view of Calp we heard techno music blaring as a beach disco also welcomed the summer weather. 

 Our excitement rose as we saw large jellyfish with tentacles a few feet long before approaching a group of boats anchored near the cove at the bottom of the rock. From far away the rocky cove looked as if no one was there but as we neared our destination we were in for a surprise.

Mauve Stinger Jellyfish

 Nude dudes, blended in with the blanco colored boulders as they cuddled with their partners.  I am not sure if we should say sorry for interrupting their romantic afternoon, or if they should have apologized for their flopping genitals.

Ignoring the show, we found a nice spot to pull our kayak on shore. Sticking with our plan to snorkel we dove in and noticed a large coral reef which was home to a few schools of fish.  The water was still a little cold so after our dip we laid on the sun heated rocks until I stopped shivering before we headed back to across the sea. 

We only intended to stay gone one hour knowing it cost 20 euros per- but the time must have gotten away from us.  We did not have enough cash to pay for two hours; as I pulled out the debit card we were told they do not accept them until July- when their busy season begins.  Slightly embarrassed- with no ATM nearby- the kind trusting Spaniard told us to just come back and pay tomorrow.  We argued back and forth with him about paying him the 25 euro we had on us. He insisted that we needed to have some money on us and that he would not take our last bit of cash.  This scenario took us by surprise because in the states this never would occur. People do not have that much faith in others to do the right thing; his kindness would be taken advantage of but not by us.  First thing the next day we returned with cash in hand.  I thanked him for his generosity, explained how unlikely this situation would be back at home. He replied with, “no problem!  I got good vibes from you both.  Come back and see us again before you leave Spain.”  I assured him we would. 

Below is a video from our underwater camera of our snorkeling experience.

For those of you who have been loyal readers since we started the blog, we wanted to let you know that we will be changing the format of the posts as we move along our travels. We head to Barcelona on June 24th, to pick up our new temporary home- the car we leased and will be living out of for the next 6 months.   We will be posting our experiences throughout the week, rather than a week long post every friday.  Our ability to connect to the internet on a specific day for long enough for me to write at length is not a guarantee so we will be posting more often but the posts may be shorter.  Also my topics will start to jump around as we move through different cities and countries.  Our adventure will grow making our experiences change at a much more consistent pace.  Don't worry we will still  have loads of pictures for your viewing pleasure.  There will just be more posts to see each time you check in with us rather than simply looking for this weeks post.

As always we greatly appreciate all the kind supportive feedback we receive from our readers. We love travel suggestions as well so feel free to share your favorite destinations, dream vacations, or unique sightseeing experiences with us. I hope to engage current and new readers in discussion via reddit, comments on our blog or send us an email at gettingtwothepoint@gmail.com