Small Adventures Weekend

            The weekend after Cádiz, I was ready to just take it easy at home.  The Shannons returned to Cádiz for the day on Friday to get more NIE stuff sorted out while Charlotte and I slept in.  When they got back, we were invited to go on a night hike to the Torre del Tajo to watch an eclipse, so Charlotte, Shannon M, and I jumped at it. 

            After a bit of confusion as to where we were metting our group, we finally found our companions.  It was a group of 6 españoles and one adorable dog.  The group was 4 teachers from a different school in Barbate and two of their friends.  It was really cool to chat with them as they are from all different parts of Spain, and of course hiking at night was a totally different experience than hiking during the day. 

            When we reached the top I tried to take some pictures but night photography is hard, and they all came out fuzzy or streaky.  Just look at the pictures from my last post and pretend they're at night.  That shoud do the trick!

            The “eclipse” we were promised ended up not being what we all had envisioned, but rather something called a penumbral lunar eclipse.  Pretty much the only thing you could see that clued you in that something out of the ordinary was going on was that there was a reddish ring around the full moon.  Admittedly, it was pretty cool, but we were all exhausted and it was almost 3am and we were taking the long way back into town.  All of which added up to not-so-happy language assistants.  When we finally got back into town we were pretty much asleep instantly.

            The next morning (well…maybe we slept in and this didn’t actually happen until the afternoon), Charlotte, Shannon C (two Shannons, this could get confusing, so bear with me) and I headed to the nearby town of Vejer de la Frontera.  Vejer is a pueblo blanco, or white town.  They are pretty common in Andalucía and are just gorgeous.  They are usually up on a hill and all the buildings are made of white stone, so they are incredibly picturesque. 

View of Barbate and the ocean from Vejer!

How pretty is that?

That church is the only building in town that's not white.

            We were moseying around the town, just taking it all in, when all of a sudden and old man approaches us.  When he gets close enough, we see that he is holding a tiny chameleon!  It was so adorable, but we were slightly concerned because he was squeezing it pretty hard.  We got the feeling this was not the first time this man had caught an unawares chameleon. 

Just a leetle guy.

            After a few hours of exploring, we headed back into Barbate.  We had just enough time to shower and change before heading to Claire and Dave’s for an AMAZING dinner.  Before doing the auxiliares program, Claire and Dave worked as chefs in Austin, TX, and Chicago, IL, and let me tell you, they are very good at what they do. 

            It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

            The selection of appetizers included brie-stuffed, bacon-wrapped, maple syrup-drizzled dates and my personal favorite, a little tostada topped with tomato jam, caramelized onions, and goat cheese.  Perfection. 

            The main course was, of course, paella.  It had all kinds of veggies in it, as well as some chorizo and quail eggs.  So fancy and delicious.  There were also tuna-stuffed peppers, braised chicken, and an arugula salad.  It was a big NOM all around. 

Charlotte was so excited to nom.

            We had such a great time getting to know each other better and enjoying some AWESOME food! Thanks Claire and Dave!!!

Torre del Tajo

            For those of you who don’t know (which I’m guessing is almost anyone who reads this blog), the area along the coast between Barbate and the nearby town of Caños de Meca is part of el Parque Natural La Breña y Marismas del Barbate, and is basically the Spanish equivalent of a National Park and Wildlife Refuge.  Every month they offer various activities such as guided hikes, chameleon watching, and astronomy introductions.  The day after we got back from Cádiz, we decided to take advantage of a guided hike to el Torre del Tajo. 

            This was especially well timed because it was the first time the six of us Barbate/Zahara auxiliares were all together.  The day started at el punto de información, or visitor’s center, where we met our guide, a spunky and very short Spanish lady named Chari.  Before we could head out, though, she gave us a very thorough introduction to the park, including telling us about the wildlife you can see, plants that grow there, and the history of the tower we would be hiking to.

            An hour after our scheduled departure time (are we Spanish or what?) we finally started our hike.  As we officially left Barbate, we passed this somewhat ominous-looking sign.

Last chance to turn back. 

This undeveloped beach, La Playa de la Hierbabuena, is on the other side of the port from where I live.

            After probably just under 2 hours of hiking slash stopping every hundred meters so Chari could explain this plant or that plant, we finally reached the tower at the top of the cliff!  The tower was one of the old lookout stations that were used both to watch for pirates and enemy ships as well as to quickly communicate messages down the coast.  When we first arrived we thought you couldn’t actually go into the tower but then Chari pulled out a magical keychain and we were in!

Yeah, we're going in there.

Ascending the comically small sprial staircase.  Charlotte has no fear.  

The view from the top was GORGEOUS.  I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

The trees on the right look like something out of a Dr. Suess book.  

Oh hey, Barbate.  

Made it!

The 6 of us! Finally complete :)

            After climbing down from the tower, we walked down a little bit more to a second lookout spot.  Chari told us a story of star-crossed lovers whose families didn’t want them to be together so they threw themselves off the cliff.  Pretty dramatic.  She says that if you look hard enough you can see their faces in the rock. 

See any faces? Me neither.

            We then made our way back down the trail, back to our home sweet home of little Barbate.  And we were greeted by this much less ominous sign. 

No red slashes here.

Weekend in Cádiz!

              After our first full week of school (which for me ended on Wednesday – 3 days weeks for the win), Charlotte, Shannon and I hopped on a bus Thursday afternoon and went to Cádiz.  We arrived, checked in to our hostel, and set out to see the sights.  Shannon had spend a few days there before coming to Barbate so she played tour guide.  We first headed a little more into the old part of Cádiz until we found the cathedral.  Unfortunately it had closed a few minutes before we arrived so we didn’t get to go inside but we’ll definitely be back.

Cádiz Cathedral!

            To understand what we did next, it’s helpful to know that the old part of Cádiz is at the very end of a peninsula.  Back when the old part was all there was, there was (and still is) a huge wall that separated the city from the rest of the peninsula, and today you can walk along this wall, as well as around the perimeter of the old part, so basically all the way around the end of this peninsula. 

            After the cathedral, we made our way to the outside of the peninsula and started walking around it.  We got out there right before the sun set and it was GORGEOUS.  If you looked out over the waters of the Atlantic you saw an amazing sunset and if you looked back at the city you saw incredible architecture basked in that special glow that only comes from a setting sun. 

Not too shabby.

Cathedral in the background!

            At the very end of the peninsula there is a walkway that leads out to a castle/fortress.  We walked out a little bit but the castle was closed for the day. 

Shannon looking gorgeous in front of an ancient fortress.

             We continued on an stumbled upon some amazing gardens, which is right around the time my camera died.  Sigh.  Charlotte has pictures but she is the worst at posting them.  One of these days I’ll get around to stealing her camera and posting some.

            Once we made the full circuit of the old city, we were pretty hungry so we got pizza from this awesome little place near the cathedral.  After nomming, we went to the apartment of one of Shannon’s friends from her first few days here.  The girl is Dutch and is here for the year doing Erasmus and lives with other students from all over Europe.  She was having a little get-together and there were people there from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, and the USA, and a few others I think, but we all had Spanish in common.  Some of the people there from Cádiz taught us a few new words and phrases that have come in handy many times since. 

            Charlotte and I called it a night early (read: 2:45am), and headed back to the hostel.  The next morning, Shannon and I had to get up in time to leave our hostel at 8 to go to the extranjería and apply for our NIE cards.  While waiting in line, we met a group of auxiliares who are placed in Ubrique, a small town known for its leather goods.  Surprisingly, everything went well (except for the part where the security officer practically flung my phone across a hall and then acted like it was my fault) and we were out of there by 10, with nifty little papers that allow us to claim our cards sometime in the next 45 days. 

            Once back at the hostel it was naptime for Shannon and I, but Charlotte, who had not come to the extranjería, was ready to go.  We slept and she went off on her own adventure.  When I woke up a few hours later, I went to meet up with her at the beach near the castle we had been at the previous night.  It was open so we went out to check it out, and we crossed paths again with the group from Ubrique. 

            After exploring for a while, we set out to meet up with Shannon near the gardens from the night before.  While we were walking there, we again ran into the group from Ubrique.  We promised them we weren’t actually stalking them and shortly after we all found Shannon and decided to go find something to eat/drink. 

            We were sitting at an outdoor café when we invited the three British guys one table over to join us.  They are doing internships in Sevilla and were in Cádiz for the weekend.  Charlotte loved getting to hear some British English for a change, she was getting a little deprived. 

            With happy bellies, we headed to the train station to meet the other Shannon!  She had been delayed in getting to Spain due to visa issues in Germany, where she has lived for the past 5 years while working as an English teacher.  The 4 of us went back to the hostel and relaxed for a bit before getting ready to head out for a night on the town. 

            We started by going to a famous flamenco place, where we had dinner and drinks before enjoying an AWESOME flamenco show.  The main dancer was a man with long curly hair and fantastic moves. 

So.  Awesome.

            At the end of the show, about 10 women (and one little kid) came on stage and each danced for a few minutes.  We’re pretty sure they’re all one big, happy, flamenco-loving family.  This little kid was so cool.  He’s probably 7 or 8, and already is such an entertainer.  The red pants really say it all. 

Such a little baller.

              After the show, we headed to la discoteca!  They were playing awesome music and we had so much fun dancing there for a few hours.  Around 3, we peaced out and headed to La Punta, a spot in Cádiz where there are even more clubs and discotecas.  We were walking into one when we spotted the British guys from that afternoon!  We also met a group of US Marines who were on liberty while their boat was docked in Rota, just on the other side of the bay.  The music at the second club was more latin-inspired, but just as fun to dance to.  At about 6:30, Shannon and I made the discovery of the night: a burrito place sandwiched in between the clubs.  They made a pretty great burrito.  I bet they make a killing. 

            Around 7am, we finally made our way back to the hostel.  We contemplated staying up to watch the sunrise, but trying to stay awake for another hour and a half sounded like a lot of work.  The next morning, we came dangerously close to missing the check out time (hmmm…I wonder why we got a slow start? Such a mystery.), got some food, and boarded a bus back to Barbate.  We were all pretty silent on that bus ride.  Again, I haven’t the foggiest idea why.