April 18, 2012

Hola todos!

Today I will finally tell you all about my amazing trip to Spain. I wish I was back there right now, the warm sun was so comforting compared to this snow I woke up to this morning. Needless to say, I am getting tired of this cold weather and look very much forward to coming home at the beginning of summer.

So, on that note, let me being to tell you of my experience in Spain...

It didn't start off so well. As Saija and I had to spend an extra two hours in the plane, waiting for the control system in Brussels to fix something. Apparently it crashed and no planes were allowed to depart. So, we sat there patiently and ate some chocolates. But, soon we were given permission to leave and we were in Malaga, Spain in exactly five hours (seven if you include the two spent waiting).

Once in Malaga we hopped right on a bus and were on our way North to a city about the size of Turku called Cordoba. There, we met Saija's friend Viivu (22) and her boyfriend Esa (23). They are two students spending five months at an international University. Viivu is studying law and Esa is into business. So, once we dropped all our stuff off at their apartment we headed out into the town for some widely know tapas!

The tapas were delicious, yet I don't think I could eat them every day. It was hard to find tapas which weren't fried. But, none the less they were delicious after so many hours of travel. I took pictures of the tapas, but it was at 11 p.m. so my camera wasn't taking such focused photos.

 This is a traditional tapa. Its called tortilla, but its not what you think. It's actually made with just potatoes and eggs. Served with a light cream or can be dipped into sauces. And also quite good on its own.











This was probably my favorite tapa. I had it twice in Spain and it was good both times. It's called gaspacho and is basically cold tomato soup with ham in the middle. To be eaten with bread.

 Well that's just bread, but we also ate fried zucchini, fried potatoes with a cheese sauce, and something else... I think it had to do with spinach.

 This is where we were eating those tapas at 11 p.m. A huge plaza in the middle of Cordoba. It was a great experience to see that the Spanish really do start dinner past 10p.m. and take their children with them. Usually out until early hours of the morning.

                                            Same plaza, different corner.

                                                           Esa and Viivu.

After we ate our tapas and drank some wine. We headed back to the apartment for some much needed sleep. And we woke up in the morning for what was my favorite day spent in Spain. This day was spent walking around old Cordoba admiring all the old buildings, eating Spanish sweets at the cafe while drinking cafe con leche, (They don't have "normal" coffee in Spain, by the way, its always "cafe con leche", basically two parts super strong coffee and then one part milk. I loved it!) and eating delicious food at a traditional Italian restaurant.

       Tight streets of Cordoba. Where the Spaniards still drive like maniacs even though the streets are literally 8 ft. wide.

 This is what we saw all through Cordoba. Beautiful old buildings and colorful plants.

 Standing in front of something old. Haha! I wish I could tell you what it was, but, I kid you not, every corner we turned there was something just as old/historical/beautiful as the last.

 A typical plaza you will run into while wondering around the many streets of Cordoba.

Some old Roman pillars in the middle of the city, and a pregnant kitty cat! I saw her and it made me miss my cats at home. Boo-hoo.

Typical Spanish cafe found all throughout Cordoba.

 And, of course we stopped at it! We got some delicious pastries and cafe con leche!

 If only it was like this in Finland....

 That was the best dessert I've had in a long, long time. Wait, there is still no way it beats that berry mousse and ice cream I had in Estonia. But close...

                                                      Such happy people high on life! ...and sugar!

I thought this door was pretty cool. So, of course, I had to get a picture with it.

But maybe this is more "cool". Almodor Del Rio, a castle built in 740 A.D. 

 It was definitely beautiful. And huge. Many cafes, restaurants, and shops were located in and around this caste. We were also around this castle during the night and it definitely gave good "ambiance" to the evening.

 One of my favorite pictures from Spain.

 Horse buggy and the castle. Quite like the Mackinaw Island, Cordoba was full of these buggies ready to give tourists a quick jaunt around the area.

 Castle walls.

More castle pictures. There are many...

 Then, after all that walking we were famished and Viivu took us to one of her favorite places for tapas.

 And I found this creative vase! What a waste of oranges!

 Tapas! These were much better than the ones we had the first night in Cordoba. Only because they weren't fried. I had the one in the back with goat cheese and Serrano ham. (I have fallen head over heals in LOVE with these two ingredients. And if you add balsamic to the mix and some toasted focaccia or ciabatta bread it's like heaven!) Okay, sorry guys, "focus Karlee, focus..."

                                  Saija and I, and a view of Cordoba from above.

                 Lookie here! Another plaza in Cordoba. Isn't it just as beautiful and old as the last? Yes.

Saija, Viivu, and I in front of the plaza walls. Carefully trying not to fall into the little river below!

                              Not the castle walls, these were apart of a whole different plaza.

Giant window of flowers! Who has time to do this stuff?

To be continued...

Haha! I just wrote that not but five minutes ago, and here I am again! Such a pessimist. But clearly making progress since I'm back.

Okay enough nonsense! To continue, after we walked through Cordoba for like, all day... We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant with REAL Italians working there. You think I would have gotten better by now and have pictures of everything, especially of what I eat since I'm such a foodie, but I don't. I only have torn pieces of paper sitting on my desk telling of what I ate and how to make it when I get home. Hee-hee. Oh wait! I did take a picture! But only one. Anyways here was my pizza!

  It was delicious! In fact I have the restaurant's business card in case I am back in Cordoba some time soon. Haha! Of course more serrano ham, mozarellla, and... (oh shoot I forgot what that green stuff is called!), was my pizza of choice. I ate the whole thing. I was so proud of myself. Haha! And speaking of pizza, I really miss pizza from Kelly's Venture Inn. That will be such a good coming home dinner!

Anyways, after a late dinner of delicious Italian pizza, we went back to the apartment to give our feet some rest in the form of, well, sleep. Then, in the morning we went into the more modern part of Cordoba and spend the morning and afternoon shopping around the city and eating traditional Spanish churros! They really are delicious like so many say! (I have so many things to make when I get home...) After the churros, we went back to the apartment, freshened up, and went out to see a traditional Spanish Easter Procession. It was just like I've seen on TV before. Such neat experience. So if you were wondering what I was up to for Easter, that was it! We spent the rest of the evening wining and dining together before bed, which then brought on an early bus ride out of Cordoba to another city two hours southeast called Fuengirola.

Walking through the city.

Almost looks a bit like Turku.

Churros!

Churros stand. They weren't as common as I thought they were. I only saw a couple places selling churros while in Cordoba. 

Making some fresh churros!

Churros and some chocolate sauce for dipping.

Extremely crowded streets for the Easter Procession.

Seriously, it was crowded. If I hadn't gotten pushed to the front by some elderly lady I wouldn't have been able to see the procession at all!

It's starting! 

        This procession was representing the 12th station when Jesus dies on the cross.

I don't know what the Spanish army represented or the meaning of the red and white costumes but it sure was something.

 Giant marble statue of Jesus dieing on the cross and Mother Mary weeping beside him. (This monument was carried only by men from below.)

So, as I said before, after all of this happened we went to bed and woke up very early in the morning to take  a bus to a coastal city named Fuengirola. And here is where the trip starts to get more "typical", vacation-wise. It was very nice to stay in a nice hotel, sit by the pool, shop, and eat at different restaurants almost every night, but it wasn't very "Spanish", if you will. It was just your typical relaxing vacation in a different, warmer, place. But, none the less, I had a great time with the people I was with and wouldn't mind going back. (Especially now since yesterday morning brought a soft blanket of snow to cover the beautiful spring crocus flowers.)

So, once we got to Fuelgirola, we dropped off our stuff at the hotel, and headed to the beach! It was amazing hot fast I burned under that hot Spain sun! Then, after a nice lunch on the beach we went back to our hotel to sleep. This happened for the rest of the vacation; beach (or pool), lunch, shop, dinner, sleep, and continue. The last day Saija and I left to Malaga in the morning to spend all day their until 6:30 a.m. when our plane left. (We didn't bother paying for a hotel when we had to get up so early.) 

Fuengirola playa! Beach of the "Costa Del Sol".

Haha! I just wanted a picture of the hills in the background. So friendly in Spain!

Now that is what you call a sandcastle.

And this one also!

Like I said, wining and dinging. This is my new favorite. It's called "Tinto De Verano". All it is is half red wine and half lemon pop. So, for a sweet tooth like mine it was perfect!

Traditional Spanish tapa. These were delicious. All they are are little sandwiches with different fillings inside.

Our hotel, Mirador de Calahona.

It was pretty nice yeah?!

 Enjoying the sun with some tinto de verano and berried and cream! We did a lot of eating on this trip. Can you tell?

Nom! Strawberries and mango!

More tinto de verano (red wine of summer), except this time with white wine. And in this case we renamed it to, blanco de invierno (white wine of winter). Clever kids.

Walking around on the beach!

And look we are wining and dining again! This time at a Thai/Japanese restaurant.

And of course we had to get some sushi! I LOVE sushi! ...But then again I seem to love everything food related don't I?

This time we wined on Spanish Sangria! It was very good too.

And, since it was soon Saija's birthday, Viivu made her a cheesecake. Viivu wont be home in time to celebrate so we celebrated in Spain!

And let me tell you that was the best cheesecake I have ever had! Being a big dessert fan and all, I have always found it easy to save some calories by dismissing the cheesecake. Not being a big fan of that stong cream cheese taste and all. But, this cheesecake was so light and fluffy and HARDLY had any cream cheese flavor at all that I ate TWO helpings. Wait, THREE helpings! I asked Viivu for the recipe and she gladly wrote it down for me. And here it is on my desk waiting to be made when my parents get here in about a week. Tee-hee.

Well, well, well, thus ends my LONG tale of the wonderful Spain. I have so many more pictures to show all of you but they are so random and many that it would just get confusing. I hope that you all enjoyed this! Stay tuned the next blog post should be great. All about my parents vacation in Finland! I have been very busy planning their stay here and I do believe it will be very enjoyable for them. I am so excited to see them it's been forever! 

So, until then, hasta luego!

Karlee

Saija

Viivu & Esa

Yours truly, sippin' on a strawberry margarita. Hey, relax guys, I have to wait three more years when I get back to the U.S. so I am taking responsible advantage here. Key word, responsible. (Hey Natalie I hope you enjoyed these photos! Tee-hee!)