Conquering Spain and repeating history

So it's Easter week next week and I haven't even told you about my plans! We have about 10 days off; our last day of work being 14th April, going back to work on 26th.

Annalisa and I have decided that after visiting Granada and Malaga in some depth we're going to try and visit the rest of Andalusia (Andalucia?!) in our Easter holidays. We were originally tempted by the idea of a desert expedition but it proved complicated without a 4x4. Also, Easter is a big thing in the peninsula, particularly in Andalusia where there seems to be a large Christian population and there's lots of goings-ons.

Our plan is as follows:

Melilla to Malaga
Catch the boat across from Melilla to Malaga over night on 14th April and arrive in Malaga early on 15th.

Malaga to Sevilla (Spanish) or Seville (English) - tell me the point in translating it?!
From Malaga, we're going to hop on a bus and head to Seville (I think it's going to be a pretty long journey!). Seville is the capital of Andalusia and where everybody flocks come 'Holy Week' (Semana Santa). There are processions daily, similar to what we caught a glimpse of in Granada when we visited way back when in December. Apparently people parade the streets carrying large gold, highly decorated statues of Mary and other well-known characters/figures from the popular book, The Bible! (Excuse my ignorance, if you will! It sounds like a book review...). Supposedly there will be several people under just one 'float', if you like, to support the hefty weight of the ornaments. Sounds interesting, and from speaking to Melillenses it's going to be rammed with not only religious Spaniards, but tourists that head to the region to join in the celebrations.
I've also been told that the whole region is filled with the sweet aroma of 'azahar' - orange blossom. Yes! Orange trees! I've had a little taste of it here in Melilla as the park we live opposite has a few 'naranjos' (orange trees) and as I walk past in the morning I catch a few whiffs.
We plan to stay in Sevilla for four days. We'll visit the town, see a few processions until we get too claustrophobic and probably hump down into a few tapas bars and generally just check out the region. One of my old colleagues from Pod1 is also going to be in Seville whilst we're there so hopefully we'll manage to meet up with him. It looks like he's staying a bit further out than where we are but it appears to be a nice walk along the river (I have no idea what it's called, for non-informational purposes!).

Seville to Cordoba
On 19th April, from Seville we're renting a little Ford Ka and heading to Cordoba, about an hour and a half east of Seville. We met a guy in Melilla (who now lives in Lisboa, FYI!) who comes from Cordoba. He came to Granada with us and has given us a few pointers. We need to visit the Mesquita-Iglesia. It's a mosque-come-church/cathedral. Cathedrals and churches are different aren't they? Spire? Anyway, it used to be a mosque and the platform where the man (how uneducated?!) used to shout and call people in for prayer five times a day (yes, I do know a little bit about Islam!) has been transformed into the bell tower. It all sounds very interesting! I haven't checked my sources so have probably got it a bit wrong but here's a link from Wikipedia  if you're interested and want to correct me! Click here. (Oh yeah - I'm almost professional with my click heres!)
In May Cordoba hosts la Batalla de las Flores ('the Battle of the Flowers'). Here in Spain (the best idea I can get of it from being in Melilla) most people live in flats and so there is normally a communal patio area in the entrance courtyard. In preparation for the flower parade (which we'll unfortunately miss) women dress in typical flamenco dress and travel through the streets in wagons, adorning them with petals. I believe there should be some courtyards already blooming, gearing up for the event. I'm planning to ask at the tourist office there and see if we can sneak into a few buildings to see this. Don't ask, don't get but I'm not sure how successful we'll be. Here's a website I've found with a few pictures of what it should look like. (I bet after all of this we won't even be able to see anything!)

Cordoba to Jaen
Slightly further east of Cordoba is Jaen. Our housemate here in Melilla comes from a small town near Jaen and we've been told it's a charming little town although there doesn't seem to be many attractions. We're going to stay in Cordoba for two nights and head to Jaen for a day trip with the car on 20th.

Jaen to Cadiz
On 21st, getting up at a ridiculous hour no doubt, we'll head from Jaen to Cadiz. The drive is going to be a beast and I think we'll be stopping off a few times on the way for toilet/snack breaks. In all honesty we've planned the trip terribly. We understood that the first few days of Semana Santa were the biggest, which is why we're going to Sevilla first, but it turns out it's the 21st and 22nd. We did try and reorganise everything but it's too complicated what with hostels and the car booked. Never mind, we'll get to see the towns, which is the important thing and probably save money staying in Seville when it's not the peak days.
Now Cadiz seems a very interesting place. It's pretty much all beach, with a road attaching it to the south-west corner of Spain. There's a national park very near which might be nice but as I'm suffering with mosquito bites I think the beach might be a better bet to catch some rays. We've been told that the towns surrounding Cadiz are more interesting than Cadiz itself and one of my students has told me the name of the town where she used to live (San Fernando) so we'll try and swing by there on the way in.

Cadiz to Algeciras
We're staying in Cadiz just the one night, after being warned there's not too much there and heading to Algeciras on 22nd. "What's in Algeciras, oh-so-informative-Stacey?" I hear you say. Well... Nothing, it seems. But very nearby within walking distance is *drum roll please* Gibraltar! (There are complications crossing the border with the car.) Ever since I arrived in Melilla and presented myself as an English person (as opposed to Japanese?! :-S) I have been constantly scrutinised and blamed for taking Gibraltar away from the Spanish. Now, I don't know how you guys feel about this, but I don't really feel responsible... What did I do?! Jeez..! So... I want to go and see what all the fuss is about. I've been told there are monkeys and after my disappointing trek up the 'Monkey Trial' to Gurugu where I saw no monkeys whatsoever I want to see some. Now, the confusing part... When I tell my colleagues I'm going to Gibraltar, to my land, the land of the English *bursts into God Save the Queen* they tell me not to bother. They says there's nothing to see. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU MOANING ABOUT, THEN?! *sigh*.

Algeciras to Malaga
At this point our trip will be approaching it's end. On 23rd of April we will be catching worms like little early birds, driving from Algeciras to Malaga, about a three hour trip, to dump the car off at the airport, catch the train across town and jump on the 2 o'clock boat back to Melilla.

Malaga to Melilla
We arrive back in Melilla on the Saturday evening (now summer is almost here they have introduced the fast boat as well as the grotty overnight one). We'll have the Sunday and Monday to recoop before starting back to work on the Tuesday.

So... Ten days, eight main cities in a very silly way.

But good going, I reckon. (How'd you like my handy work?!) Hardcore travelling! I'll let you know how we get on!

P.S. Have been told Almeria ain't that great and although Huelva has been recommended we don't want to burn ourselves out so will save that for another day.

Super Stacey, the slacker

I have been incredibly slack.... But I do have an excuse or two!

I've been sorting out things for my placement in London for this summer, and applying for Masters. For any of those who didn't see on my Facebook or hear otherwise I've been offered a place on the MA in Translation in a European Context at Aston and also a place on the MA in Translation and Interpreting at Westminster. I'm trying to get things together so that I can go to London, be with Beanbag and stay in one place for once. That would be nice! So lots of organising for that as regards scholarships, living arrangements, etc.

I also have about seventeen private classes a week as term is drawing to a close and the slackers that haven't done anything all year have decided that now's the time to start learning ready for exams in June. Silly fools - Super Stacey to the rescue! It eats into my weekend but it's all baby steps to Westminster, the way I see it!

Furthermore, I've been working away in my free time (as in hours between classes) doing some transcription work for a well-reputed translation company, getting up my experience and getting closer to making Westminster less of a pipe dream and more of a reality.

Then I realised that it seems I'm actually here more so to teach English rather than to learn Spanish and that was not the plan! I realised that when I get back to England and apply for a job with Spanish I have no paperwork to show that I can speak it at a fairly good level. My colleague at school kindly found some information about the DELE (a Spanish internationally recognised standard - you get me?!). The exams costs €160-odd here in Melilla and across the border in Nador they charge just €45.
There's a Hungarian girl that I've met over the past few months that has lived here for a few years. She also wants to sit the exam too, although a different level, and we're going to go to Nador this Friday to hand in all the papers and get registered. The exam is in May so I'm working towards that - hopefully I'll pass although the more I study, the weaker I realise I am!

So all work and no play makes Stacey a dull girl that doesn't blog and seems to have less and less fun. I've wanted to learn to windsurf since I got here and the Hungarian girl and a few other friends are quite keen. I've been calling up but perhaps because the weather hasn't been that nice or something we just haven't got round to doing it. I hear there's a class this Saturday so this week I shall put my name down so that outside of studying languages I can do something a little different!

So that's what's been going on - I've not even mentioned my trip to Malaga to see Chrissy nor my school trip, nor our planned trip to Andalusia. Oh jeez - I've got so much to write about! Bare with me peeps - as always, I'm taking on too much!

English Spain or Spanish England?

At the end of January there was a Bank Holiday weekend and, ready to do anything but stay in Melilla, Annalisa and I decided to accompany our Welsh friend over to the peninsula. He's been living in Melilla for four years and often goes to Malaga to do a spot of shopping, etc. This particular weekend he was going to pick up a friend that was coming to stay with him in Melilla for a week or so. We were lucky enough to leave the day before him as we didn't have to work and he did. We went to the port and bought our tickets all on our own like two very big, grown up girls (last time we needed the Spaniards to show us how to do it) and before we knew it we were on the boat heading to the Malaga for a spot of touristicy shiznick.

Now last time we had the luck of being blessed with bad weather and complementary cabins but this time we were in the dreaded 'butaca'. Basically a standard seat. Pft, don't go thinking it's not that bad - love to see you try and travel over night in a standard seat! We made a beeline direct for the seats before anybody else could nab the best ones, or families full of screaming kids settled next to us. So we were settled down for the night with cheekily three seats between the two of us, loading up one seat with our bags so it would be oh, just such a nightmare for us to unload that seat for someone in the middle of the night when they foolishly decided to settle down at a stupid hour. Yes... We had one up on the Spaniards. England 1 - 0 Spain! We had taken blankets with us as we'd been warned that the boat gets cold at night. I took my computer so we could watch a few episodes of our beloved Salvatore brothers in The Vampire Diaries (Cronicas Vampiricas - we watch it in Spanish ;-)) before getting as much shut-eye as possible in order to visit Malaga to the max.

Had a film been made of us sleeping that night the soundtrack would be that of Benny Hill. We were shuffling and shifting all night, whilst the people behind us were shouting at the guy in front of us for making too much noise, drinking too much and disturbing those who stupidly thought they'd get any sleep. Needless to say we slept like hamsters at night time.

Once we arrived in Malaga we headed for the train station, not completely knowing how to get there. Luckily we'd bumped into one of our (few) friends from Melilla and got accompanied to the train station! We were heading for Torremolinos, where our hotel (that cost just €30 each for two nights), that had been recommended to us by our Welsh friend, was waiting for us. A 20 minute train journey later and we placed our feet on the tackiest, Spanish town I've ever seen. There were karaoke bars, Indian restaurants and typically English bars on every corner - a real invasion by the English. We checked in to our hotel that turned out to be perfect despite our doubts and crashed out for a few hours. When we woke up we wandered around this Spanish/English town, grabbed a korma whilst being pestered by the most awkward waiter known to man and headed back to our hotel ready to attack Malaga the next day.

We jumped the train to Malaga and walked straight onto a sightseeing tour bus outside the train station. We managed to see all the main sites of Malaga such as the Malagueta beach and the bull ring whilst passing several orange trees (oh, I do like an orange tree!)!

Still on the bus, we meandered through what seemed to be the posh part of town, just on the sea front with some pretty awesome Spanish architecture.

(I wanna get me one of those!)

But the most precious sight was when we were heading up the hill to the Castillo of Gibralfaro. Climbing up in the rickety rackety double decker bus (which really was struggling!) the trees gave way to a beautiful sight of the sea, with mountains in the peripheral and the buzz of the town amongst it all. Pretty, although I had a fight to take the pictures on a moving vehicle amongst trees so this is the best you've got!

We didn't get off but made a note that we would come back and visit the castle at a later point during the weekend. The area was preciously silent.

We were Alcazaba bound, a similar fortress to that which we saw in Granada (the Alhambra - also of Muslim origin hence the words being very similar and me probably confusing them! - I apologise in advance.). We found the ancient ruins in the centre of town, that faced out to sea and pushed our luck by trying to get in for students. We eventually just accepted the fact that we'd have to pay the full fee of €2.10 (or whatever it was!). You can take the Stacey away from the students but you can't take the student out of Stacey!

There were some gorgeous views across the town with the sun just setting and the gardens inside were gorgeous ( I felt like the girl in A Secret Garden). A photographers palace.

(This one reminds me of Tomb Raider - anyone else?!)

(That's the bull ring in the centre - I've become slightly obsessed with them courtesy of Annalisa's influence.)

We left the Alcazaba and wandered around town aimlessly, bumping into the cathedral and popping ourselves down for a cup of coffee in a quaint little square.

Post coffee we went back to our hotel in Torremolinos, got our glad rags and joined Jason and his friend to hit the biggest club in Malaga. Nothing extra special other than the half female/half male stripper/dancer things...

WTF?!

Not that interesting but thought you might care to know that I partied as hard as I visited Malaga!

The next day, pushing ourselves to the limits we got up early with averagely tame hangovers, went to the train station, checked our bags in a locker at Malaga station and hopped on the sightseeing bus again to visit the castle at the top of town.

The bus didn't show up for ages and whilst we were waiting outside the train station in the warm sun my nostrils filled with the ever-so-sweet stench of urine. The square opposite the train station seemed to be the home for a group of homeless people. Nothing much more to say on that, other than watching them passed the 60 minutes that it took for the bus to show up. (Am I going into too much detail?!)

We climbed up the treacherous hill (in the bus of course - gotta look after these pins!) through the much preferable aroma of pine needles. We jumped off at the top and walked to the entrance of the Castillo de Gibralfaro to find a flamenco guitarist. Lovely! We were in Spain!!! We sat at the entrance for a good twenty minutes just admiring the views and listening to the beautiful sound of the guitar with the birds chirping above the busy, yet silent from up there, town below.

We explored the ruins of the castle with the absolutely breath-taking views across Malaga before heading back into the town ready to meet Jason and his friend to board the boat. Yes, our weekend was almost over already.

We walked down a gentle (Yes, Annalisa - gentle!) slope back into town, passing by some more cactae (yay! - is it cactae or cactus?!) with Arabic graffiti - I thought it was pretty cool and it just goes to show that there Arabic culture still lives on in Spain despite the Christians becoming the majority (rather than Muslims) some several hundred years ago. (I really should read up on the history of Spain - I'm especially quite interested in the dictatorship of Franco but don't seem to find the time.)

On the way down a random Spaniard (this was exactly the type of being that I loathed and unfortunately anticipated before coming to Melilla) decided to talk to us just because we were English - Malaga's not that small a city so it's not rare to come by fellow Europeans. He wisely asked us if we knew where a place was. Computer says no, mate. "Ah.. Are you not from around here?" "No." Sleazy man proceeds: "Where are you from?" Stacey: "No." Sleazy man stupidly proceeds: "Are you English?" Stacey starts to get a bit fed up: "No." Sleazy man: "Do you want €250?" Stacey getting quite used to this game: "N.... Ur... WHAT?! No, mate. Leave us alone" Incredibly generous gentleman: "Why not? Most girls want €250." Freaked out Stacey picking up her pace: "No." Insistent pest: "Are you girls crazy? Most girls would accept." Stacey, pointing to the girls in front and gradually losing her manners: "'Go and ask them then." Crazy, stupid fool, emerging a thick wad of beautiful, shiny, fresh, probably stolen 50s from his pocket: "You don't want my money?" (Eh?!?!) Stacey: 'Look mate, we've tried to tell you nicely we're not interested.' You can imagine the next batch of words that came out of my mouth and he kindly went on his way, just as Annalisa started to tell me what we could have done with the dosh. Random - was I stupid?!

After our less than pleasant encounter, we met up with our buddies, grabbed a Dominoes and sat at the port waiting to be called through. We randomly got some funny looks whilst munching our pizza, sat on the floor in the queue from the Melillenses... I guess it wasn't the typical thing to do... Still gotta adjust to this whole culture thing - is it actually possible to know all the different norms within one country and appear as a native?!

After our trip over to Malaga on the ferry we discovered (upon awakening) that it's not rude, nor selfish, nor anti-social, nor inconsiderate(!) to take up three seats in order to lie down and get a quarter decent night's 'sleep' on the boat potentially leaving others to sleep on the floor. So... That's what we did - we both had work in the morning! It's a dog eat dog world. And that's about it... An eventful visit to Malaga. 

We're making our way slowly around Andalusia and will conquer it all before our time is up out here!