Post for April 3-10: Semana Santa en Grecia!

Last year I stayed in Spain for Semana Santa (Holy Week) but this year I did as most sevillanos do and got the heck out of town! In the city of sevilla they have hundreds of pasos (religious processions) which are very interesting to see... once. The city becomes super crowded and you can't go anywhere because all of the streets are blocked off for the pasos. So I made plans early on to do some traveling during this time and booked tickets to Greece!

I had always wanted to go and it was great. I'd arranged to meet with my friends Kelly and Jennifer from Boston in Athens. In the end, they each brought a friend along so we were a group of 5.

In Athens we of course went to the Acropolis, saw the Parthnon...
(Me, Jen, Parthenon)




Curious thing about Athens... they say its supposed to be one of the dirtiest cities in the world but I didn't find it to be all that dirty. What did surprise me was the large number of BIG stray dogs. They were everywhere!



From Athens we headed to the first of our town island stops, Mykonos. Unfortunately, we only had one day there and it rained the whole time! We made our own fun of course, and waited out for breaks in the rain in a bar where we could see the ocean drinking Uzo (the typical Greek liquor. you dilute it with water and ice it kind of tastes like black liquorish, ew) We did manage to walk around a bit between showers... the town is really beautiful, all of the houses are painted white and the doors are all different colors!


Windmills on Mykonos... and rain clouds :(



The picture on all the Mykonos postcards


Then we headed to Santorini! When we found that it was still raining there, we tried to make the best for it and go for a walk. This turned out to NOT be the best idea, we got caught in a downpour and had to take refuge...


But the next day it cleared up a little and we hiked around approximately a fourth of the perimiter of the island, from Fira to Oia, which is famous for its sunsets.
The hike was so beautiful!




Oia is in sight!




And Finally, the sunset!


Our last day in Santorini the sun finally came out! SO we made the most of it and rented ATVs to ride around the whole island



And climbed a mountain


Then we headed back to Athens! Great week with a great group of ladies!

Post for March 10-20: Visit from Mama and Sister!

During Emily's spring break, she and my mom came to visit me here in Sevilla! I was so great to have them here, to see them of course but also to show them the reality of my life here, where I live and work. It was also strange because I feel that I have two totally separate lives, and with them here, for once my two worlds were one.

First I showed them around Sevilla: Here at La Plaza de Espana...






We even did the touristy cruise down the Guadalquivir river







Monday I had to work so they went to Cordoba on their own. But Tuesday and Wednesday my teacher's gave me the day off to spend with my family! We took advantage of course and Tuesday made a day trip to see the Sherry Bodegas in Jerez...




Their flight left out of Madrid that Saturday so we went up a few days early to check out the city. We saw the Prado museum, and the Guernica at La Reina Sofia. We also visited the Royal palace, Plaza Mayor and Retiro Park. Not bad for just two days!
Em on the bus:



We had such a great time and I miss them already! Although I will be home VERY soon.
Besos...