¡Málaga y Bolonia!

I wasn't going to post until I had something to write about, but that was dumb, because I always have something to write about. However, now I have something that other people might want to read.

So. Last weekend we went to Málaga. A beautiful little town that was home to Picasso and now is the location of a museum holding many of his works. We got to go to the museum but, as with most art museums, we couldn't take any picture inside. The majority of the art was donated by his family from their private collection so there was a lot of stuff that wasn't necessarily meant for the public. Lots of only partially completed works and crude sculptures. However, it was really cool to see the pieces and I am nearly convinced Picasso was on drugs.

We then toured another massive cathedral. There are a lot of those in this country, and as beautiful as they all are, the do seem fairly similar to me. I am sure you cathedral aficionados will contradict me on this statement, but it is how I feel. However, I do know it is the second tallest cathedral in Andalusia, after, of course, our cathedral here in Sevilla. It also only has one tower. There are two ideas as to why this might be the case. The first is that the money for the second was given to the US to help with our Independence War. The second is that it went to help build a church somewhere else. Most people tend to lean towards the first explanation, especially since the US is still trying to get the Spanish to allow them to repay them. Why would we do that if we didn't actually receive the money? There is a controversy now as to whether a second tower should be built now, hundreds of years later. Most people are very against it, after all, how could they affectionately call it La Manquita (The One-Armed Lady) if it had two towers? 

So after the cathedral we sought out the beach. Being a little beach deprived from living in a landlocked state all summer, I just about died. According to my business professor, it is a horrible little beach, but I didn't really care. It was a wonderful time of simply sitting in the sand, wading in the water, and eating incredible seafood. Little did I know, better things [beaches] were yet to come. More on that later.

So that was Málaga.

Other than that, the past little bit has been pretty typical. I had my first quizzes in class (they went lovely, thank you for asking), I have eaten more helado then I care to admit, and there have been plenty of evenings out with wonderful friends. I love Sevilla. There is always something to do which makes studying seem a little out of place and very difficult to accomplish. Even during my designated study time I usually find something else to do, like blog, for example.

So, when some friends invited me to go on a little road trip to a city called Bolonia, I decided it was probably best to go. We rented a little Spanish car that we fondly called "Starship" and took off down the Spanish autopista. After a drive just under two hours we made it to the beautiful town of Bolonia. A very non-touristy, beachy wonderland.

We spent the first part of the day lazing around on the beach and in the water. And yes, as some friends have already pointed out, I through caution to the wind, dropped my usual sun-protection habits, and ventured out in nothing but my swimsuit and 55 SPF. That will not be happening again. Anyway, just know I still maintain that sun-health is of the utmost importance and yesterday was a fluke.

So we hung out in the sun on this beautiful beach, oh, did I mention I could see the African coastline from my towel? My good friend Tom bought us some cold Cruzcampo's and it was perfect. Laying there in the sun, the music of waves rolling on the white sand, screams of glee from naked little children, and good friends. The chilly lakes in Colorado payed off, however, the water was cold. I guess I can't complain though, most people don't get to go to the beach in October. A thousand pictures later, we decided to go for a bite to eat at a beach side cafe. We all had different kinds of delicious  seafood, a glass of Tinto de Verano, and chuckled a bit when Tom broke his chair.

After eating way too much, we decided to go for a little jaunt up a sand dune on the other end of the beach. By "little jaunt" I mean not a little jaunt at all. It was quite the hike, but doing it barefoot in the soft sand with a light breeze and good conversation was the way to do it. We were so excited when we got to the top, and took another thousand pictures before running like maniacs all of the way down. It was sandy, hot, and wonderful.

Then, we had the awesome opportunity to go visit one of the top 3 sets of Roman ruins in Spain. Those were incredible. They were extremely well preserved and you could get right up close and personal with them. It was really neat for me to imagine a civilization of people living right there on the beach. The particular city we saw was the primary port of trade with Africa. Makes sense since you could see Africa from the beach. Apparently people try and make the swim every once in a while, kind of a Mexico-to-US idea. Sadly most people don't make it, so the view was a little bitter sweet.

After the Roman ruins, we decided we were going to drive around and find a spot to watch the sunset. That was one heck of a drive and will be a memory I snicker at for years to come. We drove all through the mountains of Bolonia at a speed that honored the name of our little Starship. We almost entered a top-security military base on accident and may or may not have bottomed out. Oops. However, there is a happy ending! Just as we thought all hope was lost and had begun to resign ourselves to the hilarious story of how we attempted to see the sun set over Africa and the ocean, Tom made a right turn into a little farm where we had the most breathtaking view of the sun lowering into the water . . . and a few horses, cows, and a dog. We took a billion pictures, none of which do the view justice, and reveled in the fact that it was a perfect ending to a perfect day. Except it wasn't over.


We piled back into our Starship and drove to a city called Cadíz where we stopped into a Spanish theater to watch the movie Lo Imposible, or, The Impossible. It is a true story that followed the members of a foreign family who experienced the 2004 tsunami. It was heartbreaking, eyeopening, and beautiful. It was incredible to watch the movie in Spanish and to see just how little the language difference mattered. I highly recommend the film (in English, if you must...), however, be aware that it was extremely graphic and displayed everything extremely realistically. It portrayed everything from human emotions, pain, hope, and fear phenomenally. It was an ironic end to our wonderful day at the beach, but I don't think any of us would have done it any differently.

So. Bolonia was perfect. It was a great day with wonderful friends that hit all of our bases. Beach. Africa. Seafood. Sand dunes. Cruzcampo. Movie. Starship. I still cannot believe we rented a car in Spain and drove to the beach for the day. Crazy. This whole experience is crazy, and I am loving every second.

So there is that (as my roommate Cade likes to say), I feel like I am in some kind of wonderful, magic bubble. I can't seem to make myself believe that this is real. However, I miss the people back home so much and wish that I could be sharing this with all of you! As always, I would love to hear from you guys. Thanks again for reading, it truly means the world.