I’ve been MOVING these past few weeks, so buckle up, my friends!
The last time I wrote, I was about to head to Portugal for a long weekend with a couple of girls from the program. We spent four days in Albufeira, a beach town along the southern coast. A 3.5 hour drive and €20 roundtrip bus ticket gave us a weekend full of beach, sun, boats, mechanical bulls, doner wraps, and a quick trip to Urgent Care.
We arrived on Thursday evening and got some delicious pizza (the BEST gluten free pizza I’ve ever had) and scoped out the scenery near our AirBnB. Little did we know, Albufeira is like a tiny Portuguese Nashville and we were staying right next to the main strip. I mean, say less, though. On Friday, we all slept in a bit and spent the day at the beach. Absolutely beautiful blue water, but frigid! I cannot tell you the amount of times we repeated to each other that cold water is good for you. Nobody took pictures, but we rented a paddle boat that looked like a Barbie car and a slide on the back. Worth it. The discovery of my new favorite margarita and a few film photos later, we hit the town for the evening. Note to everyone: they don’t let you dance on elevated surfaces.
Saturday brought our quick trip to Urgent Care - we love being women - and a boat tour to the Benagil Caves. To no surprise, we quickly became friends with one of the tour guides and he frequently made his way to our little group to shoot the shit and share some laughs. The boat tour was between 3-4 hours and took us around the coast to view the beautiful cliffside beaches, the Caves, and for a quick dip. Boat bestie took our video jumping in and it is priceless. That one is going in the vault. We also saw some dolphins, which was the first time I had seen them out in the wild! Another night on the town and the entire Sunday at the beach guaranteed some tired bodies for our last week of classes.
That last week went well (okay maybe some frustration with one of the conjugations) and we all made the most of it with cafe trips each day during our break and some sort of evening activity. I have not had to study for anything in two years, but I tried my best with the little time I had to study for the final exam. The vocabulary portion destroyed me, unfortunately. :/ The program hosted a brunch at a nearby cafe for all of the students as a final celebration and opportunity to say our goodbyes. My friends, they failed to provide for dietary restrictions and all they had for me was a bowl of fruit after having to ask. Live laugh love. I did end up getting a lot of content for SSA’s social media pages during this final week, including a “day in the life” and some student interviews. Shameless plug: @spanishstudiesabroad on Instagram and TikTok :)
Of course, my friends and I had to properly celebrate the end of an era (I know it was literally 3-weeks, don’t talk to me). Sonia graciously let us hang on the terrace before going out for the night. First stop: the mini fair in Triana. Whoever told us it was a mini fair, lied. See photo evidence:
We weaved through the crowd with death grips on each other, but ended up being too overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people and decided it was a safe hour to hit Club Koko anyway. An interesting scooter ride and sharp turn wipeout brought us to the club of the hour and one of my most iconic travel stories of the past. If you know, you know. We had such a blast and all got some neon face paint to commemorate the night. The Spaniards stay out late, so it’s very typical to be at the club until 6:00am. Well… we were indeed at the club until 6:00am. No one had intended to stay that late, and slight panic ensued when I checked my watch and we all realized everyone (except me) had to be at the airport in roughly an hour. Prays and sorrows for my girls and their following airport struggles. But hey, what’s a hot girl European summer without a little chaos here and there.
I am so grateful to have met these girls and their open arms from our varying ages. Thank you for the riverside picnic with our unique wine opener, the impromptu mid-week outing, some cute lil photoshoots, and everything in between. Much love for you all and nos vemos en los EEUU!
Following the end of the program, I flew to Alicante for my next SSA site visit. I spent just a few days in the Mediterranean city, most of which was filled with work. Our staff in Alicante planned such a wonderful visit and I had a great time exploring the campus. I even participated in one of the summer courses and we sang some songs they had been learning. I wish I had more to say about Alicante, but I was only able to check out the campus and the beach and just do a little bit of walking around. From what I did see, it’s not my favorite city, but I am sure there is a lot of potential!
I decided to fly to Bilbao from Alicante, as I found a super cheap flight (€16) and I have always heard great things about Basque Country. This is the area in the north of Spain that has their very own dialect - Basque - that is not related to any other modern language and historians still aren’t sure of the origins. My coworker, Adriana (hi!!), lives in Pamplona, which is about 2 hours from Bilbao via car. I ended up taking a train on the way there, and a BlaBlaCar on the way back. It was so fun to finally meet one of my coworkers in person since we are based all over the place and all work online. We walked around Pamplona and Adri introduced me to pintxos, which is somewhat their version of tapas. I still don’t want to know what one of the meats was made from, though. Also, Pamplona is the city where the bulls run and I missed the event by only two weeks! Based on what she tells me, I am kind of glad I couldn’t go.
In Bilbao, I slaved away in a Santander Work Cafe and had to move next door to Starbucks when I failed to properly read their hours sign. Many meetings and FOUR caffeinated beverages later, my shaking and nauseous body made my way to my hostel and quickly began the search for friends. The hostel worker and I talked for a while and she told me my Spanish is amazing so your girl is officially bilingual. Side note - my suspicions that my features are very ambiguous have proven to be true. I get all of the guesses in the book before American, which I personally think is really cool.
I walked around the Old Town and stumbled on a Blues Festival and quickly messaged the HostelWorld group chat to see if anyone wanted to join me. I ended up meeting a few people and we all decided we became blues fans that night. One guy, Tim, and I tried to convince some others that we were twins, and turns out we are actually only 18-days apart! We played some street Twister that night, and hit the festival for round two the next day after spending time in Extebarria Park above the city. A rain delay kind of killed our vibe on night two, but a plan to go sing karaoke was formed while taking shelter under a bridge. The karaoke bar was not as cool as were hoping, but we did steal the spotlight with ABBA and Bruno Mars.
My last day in Bilbao was super relaxed with some brunch and a walk around the perimeter of the Guggenheim Museum. Tim promised to check out my blog, so hi if you’re reading this! Back to Seville for a couple of days to say my goodbyes to Sonia and Luna and take one more Tinto de Verano at the same bar where it all started :,) I have loved my time with Sonia and am also so grateful for her warmth and welcoming. Plus all of our chisme haha.
Now I am writing to you from my cubicle at the Naples Airport Hostel in Italy! I know, even I can barely keep up with myself.
In approximately 16 hours, I will be reunited with my FAVORITE travel buddy and best friend, Hattie. :) We will spend the next two weeks on the Amalfi Coast and in Split, Croatia. We have been planning this trip for months, yet we have about half of our activities actually planned. I think that’s one of the reasons we travel so well together, though. We both like the balance of having a plan and being able to go with the flow and see where the day takes us. Plus, I really need a vacation. You may think, “Amanda, you’ve been in Spain all summer! You are on vacation!” And to that, I laugh. I’ve been having an amazing time, but I don’t write about the huge workload and stress I’ve had between juggling my Spanish class, my regular position duties, and marketing duties all for SSA. I am tired lol.
But I am so looking forward to these weeks with Hattie and all of the fun that we are sure to have! Making things happen one trip at a time. We made a pact to go to a different country every year, and I am already excited for all of the years to come. Find yourself a friend like Hattie. <3
Here’s to traveling while young and gaining allllll of the experiences to tell well into the future.
Your favorite globetrotter and some besitos,
Amanda