The Rain in Spain

The month of October was unusually rainy here. I say that because the number of days that it normally rains in this part of the world you can usually count on one hand. This week we also finally got over an early cold spell. It got so cold that I actually bought a comforter for my bed. Though my students were freezing, I mostly enjoyed the cold spell because it reminded me of what we would consider nice weather this time of year in Wisconsin.

Teaching classes has been going well. My fellow teachers have gotten better at communicating what they need from me. Some of the positive feedback I have gotten has been that I am very encouraging with the students. I certainly try to be. Some of the students definitely seem nervous around me, but I reassure them that I am not here to grade them on their English. I am another resource for them to use to improve their English. I don't need them to be perfect, or even up to level, I just want them to try. Many of them know much more than they think they do.

Anyways, I have been doing some travelling in my free time. My first full week in Almeria I took a quick weekend trip to Granada. It is an absolutely beautiful city and I was really glad I went on a whim. After settling into the hostel, I wandered around the city and decided to check out the botanical garden.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started off the next day by taking advantage of a free walking tour in the morning. Free walking tours are common in Europe. You normally give the guide a tip afterwards and it is an easy way to see a lot of sights and learn a lot about the city. Some guides even know a lot of stories and legends from the area.

 (One of the local cat families that lives on the historic sights)

 

After the walking tour I climbed up to Alhambra, the Moorish palace of the city. Almeria also has a Moorish palace, which I visited the following weekend.

 

 

 

 

 
Here are some more pictures from the walking tour.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

One detail of Arabic architecture is that you always want to look up.

 

One of the other more impressive sights that I saw was the Ermita de San Miguel Alto, a small church on a hill that overlooks the entire city of Granada. Though the hike was a bit steep, the view was entirely worth it.

 

 

That afternoon, I decided to treat myself to a Turkish bath since I had been walking around all day. I had made a reservation the day before because they only let a certain number of people in at one time. I loved the mint tea and the sauna.

The next day, my last, I decided to try and see anything I had failed to the previous day. The most notable was the Paacio de los Cordova which had an absolutely beautiful garden.

 

 

 The next weekend, I decided to check out the local sites in Almeria. I visited the Moorish palace, Alcazaba.

 

 That afternoon, I took a walk along the beach. We do have a very nice coast in Almeria. However, I would find the best coast a few weeks later when I traveled to Cadiz.

Cadiz is a small, peninsular city that is a very popular destination spot in Spain. It is a historic homeland of the Phoenicians, an important trading city for the Romans, and a historically important city to the development of Spain as a country.

Last week there was a long weekend. Since Thursday was a national holiday and I do not work Fridays I decided to take the extra day to travel to Cadiz, which is quite a distance from Almeria. Before I left, my bilingual coordinator, Maria Luisa, told me that Cadiz was dangerous. I asked her why. She said that I would fall in love with it and never come back. Looking out at where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, I did fall in love with the city.

My first night in Cadiz I stumbled upon a procession that I at first assumed was for All Saints Day. As I discovered later, it was actually for the Virgen de las Palmas. The procession is supposed to protect the city from a flood. Back in the 1770s there was a tsunami that hit Cadiz, and the Virgen is taken down to the water every year to bless the coast and protect the city from another natural disaster.

   
The following day I took a free walking tour around the city. Out of the many recommendations given to me by the tour guide, one of the things that I did was go to the Torre Tavira, one of the highest points in the city. I also walked along the coast after I ate lunch, which was very refreshing. However, it was still in the middle of a cold spell, so even though the weather in Cadiz was better than in Almeria, I did not go swimming.

 

 

 

 

(A beautiful ocean kitty)

The next day I went to a lot of very interesting archaeological sites and museums. I tried to go to as many museums as possible. I also made sure to visit the cathedral and climb the bell tower. The bell tower is the highest point in Cadiz.

 

 

 

All in all, I saw as much as I possibly could of Cadiz before I my eight hour train ride back on Sunday. I can certainly say that I did fall in love with Cadiz.