I couldn’t resist making a 3LW reference. Who doesn’t love that song?
For the record, “playa” (pronounced “ply-uh”) means “beach” in Spanish. And Iberia refers to the Iberian peninsula, which contains Spain and Portugal (and technically Andorra too). So with that in mind, I’ll be telling you all about my past two weekends soaking up the sun in Lagos, Portugal and Almería, Spain! The water finally warmed up a little bit and I was able to take a dip in both the Atlantic (the other side of it!) and the Mediterranean…winning.
LAGOS
So a bunch of us booked this trip through DiscoverGranada, along with well over 70 students studying abroad in both Granada and Sevilla. Traveling with such a large group of both familiar and unfamiliar faces was a nice change of pace from being with only the familiar faces of my AIFS program. We boarded the bus at 6 AM, lulled back to sleep with our tour guide’s “chill music” playlist–which was comparable to my own “chill music” playlist, so me having a non-functioning iPod for the 7+ hour ride wasn’t a problem after all. After several required rest stops (a half hour one every 3 hours) and a one-hour time change, we finally made it to Lagos. Could there BE a more gorgeous place? This adorable little town (albeit adorable and touristy little town) is right on the Atlantic, set aside reddish brown cliffs and rocky formations that abut from the perfectly clear teal water. </being poetic> We ate our bocadillos for lunch and then spent the rest of the afternoon loafing on the beach near our hotel, Praia da Dona Ana.
One of our first views of Lagos
Praia da Dona Ana
We went in, but didn’t stay for long–the water was colder than New Hampshire beach water, which is saying something! But it was very nice to see the good ‘ole Atlantic again. Sure, the Mediterranean will be infinitely more beautiful…but as a native of the East Coast, the Atlantic’s got a special place in my heart.
ANYWAY, after loafing a bit in the hotel, we all set out to the town center for some dinner and partying. We ended up at this place (per recommendation of our tour guides) called Nah Nah Bah, a chill restaurant known for its ginormous hamburgers. Of course that’s why I got grilled chicken and not a hamburger. But let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS. Yes, I know it’s only grilled chicken, but you don’t understand how juicy and flavorful and substantial (compared to the limp slabs of chicken Rosa sometimes cooks for us at the residencia) this meal was. After dinner, it started raining outside, so we made our way quickly to the club where our welcome party was being held (after awkwardly hanging around a few bars and not buying anything). Admission and a free drink were included upon us signing up for the trip, so we enjoyed our screwdrivers and danced the night away!
The next morning was the sangria cruise we had paid additional money to sign up for. The description? “A 2 hour boat ride around Lagos and its grottos with unlimited sangria.” We were sold. Or so we thought. Apparently our tour guides overbooked the two boats, so they shoved 8 of us (including myself, Krissy, Jaime, and Katie) in a motorboat sans sangria or any clue as to what was going to happen in the next 2 hours. So as our boat began to pull away from the fun and laughter of all of our friends on the big ships enjoying their sangrias, the 4 of us were initially very huffy. But as it turns out, out motor boat-ist (aka the driver/sailor) was taking us on a cool little tour of all the grottos! Which were STUNNING and very otherworldly…kind of like being on Mars, if Mars had any major bodies of water, that is. And after the tour, they took us back to the ship so we could join in on the rest of the sangria fun and other people could get to see the grottos. So everything worked out and it ended up being a great time! At one point they stopped the boat, allowing people to jump off the side into the water…and after some coaxing from Jaime (who I swear, you could throw her in the ocean near Antarctica and she wouldn’t be cold), the three of us jumped in too! Yes, it was cold, but in a good, invigorating kind of way. And considering only like 6 people jumped out of the 25+ people on the boat, it felt good to be ballsy.
The grotto tour
Post-jump victory shot!
After the cruise, we headed over to Praia Meia, one of the biggest beaches in Lagos. Unlike the sand at the beach near our hotel, this sand was soo soft and fine…it felt great on the feet! We spent the day tossing around a football (an American football!), drinking more sangria, and running around like the hooligans that we are. Oh, and I also ate delicious chicken nuggets for lunch. I accept the fact that I’m actually about 5 years old on the inside.
After the beach, we went back to our hotel briefly before heading over as a tour group to Cabo de São Vicente, otherwise known as The End of the World– it’s the southwestern most point in Europe! So naturally, the geography nerd in me was pumped, but disappointed I couldn’t find a sign to verify the geographical significance. 😦 The reason for coming was to watch the sunset– because you’re on the corner of Portugal, your view of the ocean extends past your peripheral vision, which was especially awesome when paired with the kick-ass sunset that Saturday had in store for us.
It’s not the end of the world if we miss the sunset…oh wait…maybe it is.
The bus ride back to Lagos from Sagres (the town where The End of the World is) was hilarious, with students coming up to the microphone and telling their best jokes and riddles. One of my personal favorites made absolutely no sense, but that’s why it was so great– I forget the actual question, but the answer was “purple, because ice cream doesn’t have any bones.” Gina and I died a little. I even contributed with one of my favorite Chuck Norris jokes: “Chuck Norris challenged Lance Armstrong to a ‘who has more testicles’ contest. Chuck Norris won by five.” Except I almost said Lance BASS (the former N*Sync popstar), which would’ve been a hilarious fail on my part. Admittedly, I’ve mixed the two up on multiple occasions…
Well THAT can’t be right…
After getting back to Lagos, 8 of us made our way to a quiet Indian restaurant. This restaurant completely OWNED any other Indian place I’ve been to–I wish this restaurant were in Concord or Pittsburgh! Seriously, everything just looked so GOOD. Attempting to save some cash, I had chicken tandoori and nan with butter, which were both drool-worthy…although in retrospect, getting a more exciting chicken dish would’ve been a better idea. I certainly ate a lot of chicken this vacation, to say the least, so it would’ve been more fun if I got something less plain. But after dinner, we made our way to a bar/club (I forget the name of it, but it had “garage” in it) and had a repeat of the night before.
Sunday, some people went for pre-paid surfing lessons, but I opted to stay in Lagos and soak up the sun. The past two days had been partly cloudy, but not Sunday– the sky was as clear as anything and the sun was deceptively strong. Needless to say, I left the beach that day about 5 shades darker than what I came as–with a nasty sunburn as a free gift. Oh, and a cut on my knee from attempting to climb on a rock (covered with shell sediments that were very sharp, mind you) and jump into the water. Hot mess right here. Literally– it must’ve been 90 degrees F at least! But a great day nonetheless, despite the rude awakening on the strength of the sun here and how re-application of sunscreen is essential.
Geronimoooo!
We finally left Lagos in the late afternoon, and after several obnoxious mandated rest stops, we got back to Granada past 2 AM and trudged our sunburned selves back to the residencia. But what a great weekend we had!! I can honestly say Lagos was one of my favorite weekends abroad so far. Granted, it wasn’t very culturally enriching and it was definitely touristy– but at the same time, it was socarefree. I would’ve loved to see Lisbon or other parts of Portugal and have a good basis of comparison between the western third of the Iberian peninsula and the rest of it (aka Spain), but this wasn’t that kind of vacation. And for a vacation meant to be fun, relaxing, and somewhat reminiscent of your classic spring break, this trip to Lagos fully served its purpose.
ALMERÍA
This trip was just a one-night shindig with my program, but because a good chunk of people opted to go to Ibiza instead, our group was rather small. The projected experience was very similar to Lagos–a relaxing getaway and an opportunity to catch some rays– and this past weekend too ended up being very similar to Lagos. Almería is a lot closer to Granada than Lagos, luckily, so we made it there in under 2 hours. Upon checking into our nice hotel, we made our way over to the main beach and basically were just loving life for the next 24 hours. This time, I was vigilant about re-applying sunscreen, so by some miracle, I didn’t get a sunburn. The water here was so much warmer than in Lagos! So we spent all day swimming, right? WRONG. There has to be a catch: jellyfish. Everywhere. This first came to our attention when an adorable three year old girl with her big brother came up to us asking if we wanted to see what they caught in the ocean. Thinking it would be a fish or something, we were all shocked to see the pinkish-clear jelly belly floating around in their pail…and then everywhere in the water. Eek! I don’t think the little guys were deadly or anything (otherwise I’d hope we wouldn’t have gone to Almería in the first place), but a sting is a sting and I’m sure it would’ve been unpleasant to experience. And it would definitely be unpleasant to pee on or be peed on by someone in order to alleviate the sting. Luckily, none of us had to succumb to that– and I still managed to get in the water for a little while 🙂
We had a lovely buffet dinner at the hotel, and then spent the rest of the night loafing and talking. Being at the beach is tiring!
The next day was similar– we went to the beach first, got too hot, and then opted to hang out at the super large and fancy hotel pool the rest of the day. I forgot how much I miss swimming pools! The day was nice and chill, with me spending much of the day reading in a lounge chair underneath a cabana. Here’s a picture of us from the beach!
Who run the world? Girls!
We left the city around 5 and got back to Granada before our traditional Sunday-night kebab dinner. After getting all the sand out of my purse, I called it a night early.
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In other news, today is Friday, which means I have exactly 1 week left here before coming back to America. Pretty crazy, huh? I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by. Amidst writing papers, doing presentations, studying for exams, packing, and attempting to soak in as much of Granada as I can, I want to write a few more blog entries: one on Spanish culture 101 (aka, one I should’ve done 3 months ago), a quintessential reflection piece, and a few photo-diary entries highlighting where I’ve been this semester and maybe doing one featuring my 10 favorite photos I’ve taken. We’ll have to see how much of this actually gets done while I’m here, because my laptop charger kicked the bucket and I now have to rely on the computers at school or Drea’s charger. Mnyehh. But I’ll try!
Until then…hasta pronto!
Gracie, Global 