7/31-8/4: During my 5 days in Mallorca I stayed at We Hostel Palma. The hostel was relatively new so the amenities were very nice. AC, good bunks, kitchen, cafe on the main level, and an AMAZING rooftop terrace with chairs, bar, couches, outdoor showers etc. It was located just one block from the harbor where you could find yacht after yacht. However, I was surprised that the closest beach was 15 minutes by bus. I had heard from others at the hostel that the closest beach was really crowded, and not the nicest of beaches on the island. My first day there was overcast and a bit windy so I spent the day walking around the harbor by myself and taking naps on the rooftop terrace. It was a much needed day of R&R after bouncing around the east coast of Spain for the past few days. I've found that it is so important to take a day here and there to do absolutely nothing but rest in order to make sure I'm not burning myself out. I went out to dinner with a nice group of 8 Italians then headed back to the hostel. That night, one of the boys in my room was telling me how he and his friend had rented a car for very cheap to explore the island and the better beaches on the north and east coast. I decided to try to find other travelers who may be interested in renting a car to split the price. I walked out of my room and went and sat at the outside terrace. I started making small-talk with this French woman named Geraldine and this Argentinean man named Erno and before you know it we had plans to rent a car for the next two days- only 80 euro between the 3 of us! Beaches we visited... Cala Llombards: Calo des Moro: To get here we hiked about 30 minutes down a street and through the woods...definitely wear good shoes for this one- but totally worth the view! Not much of a beach itself, but many rocks you can sit on! Watching people enter the water was very entertaining as the waves were strong and kept knocking people over. The smart ones figured out that the left side of the beach was much sandier than the right side! Parque de Mondrago: Platja de S'Amarador and Cala de sa Font Platja de S'Amarador was definitely the better of the two beaches, but both still beautiful. We walked through the National Park in order to get to them which was quite cool. Cala de sa Font was a bit more crowded and seemed to be more of a family beach since there was road access and a restaurant. Mallorca is known for their night life, but no one warns you just how expensive it is. Entry into a club alone is 40 euro minimum...unless you are on the guest list. Luckily I met two girls from NY, and a girl from Brazil that was able to get us into a club for only 15 euro.
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7/29-31 Hostel: Youth Center Hostel
July 28 & 29 Hostel: X-Hostel
- Got breakfast with Becca after taking a night bus from Malaga at this adorable little cafe called Mandala - highly recommend for a quick bite to eat. It had such a pleasing aesthetic and cute little quotes written all over the walls. - Becca and I went to the top of Castillo de Santa Barbara. You can climb to the top for free but since it was so hot we decided to take the lift up. We were able to see the gorgeous panoramic views of all of Alicante. Also...
I ended my time in Alicante by taking a day trip (2 hours by bus) to Calpe to visit Annika and her family. Spent the day at the beach and climbed the large rock to see the beautiful views. Went to a wonderful dinner and sangria at Grizzly’s and hung out by her grandfathers pool. Such an amazing day with an amazing family! (If you’re reading this, thank you again :) ) I arrived in Málaga on the evening of the 22nd and spent the next 4 days reminiscing of my study abroad days. I love Málaga, everyone knows how much I rave about the city. I was beaming from ear to ear when I arrived at the bus station I was so happy to be back in the city. But, I have to say I would not suggest going to Málaga at the moment. The entire Main Street (Alameda Principal) is completely under construction, and quite frankly, it looks pretty ugly. But, of course I found the most beautiful tropical flowers and ate an entire honeydew melon (they are sooo much better than the ones in the US!) I spent my first two days soaking up the sun at Playa de Malagueta. It allowed me to have some good alone time to read my book, write in my journal, and think about life. My first night, there were 3 of the funniest Scottish boys who were telling myself and these two girls from London the raunchiest stories. I'll spare the details. There was also a very interesting debate between one of the boys (a dairy farmer) and one of the girls (a vegan). I’ll let you imagine how the conversation went. My third day I decided to take a day trip back to one of my favorite towns, Nerja, with two girls from London, Charlotte and Abi. They had been traveling together for a few weeks and were wrapping up their trip this week. After a few bus struggles (aka getting off at the wrong stop in the middle of no where) we made it to a beautiful beach called Playa de Calahonda. It was just steps below the “Balcón de Europa” and the quaint streets of downtown Nerja. We ate paella for lunch and enjoyed some time out of the sun. After lunch we walked around the town and even watched part of a wedding ceremony (Casey if you’re reading this, start prepping the wedding venue). I could seriously picture myself living in this town one day. Overall, such an amazing day! That night I went back to the hostel and met a girl named Becca who decided to join my next trip to Alicante after just 5 minutes of meeting each other. We went out to a few bars and of course ended our night with a slice of Pui Pizza just like when I was abroad! Delicious, 24/7, and only 2 euro! Can't beat it! Before leaving on a 9 hour night bus from Málaga to Alicante, I was able to meet up for a drink with my host mom from abroad, Terre, and her boyfriend Javier. I was amazed at how much better I had become with my Spanish skills (she doesn’t speak English) just since my junior year. It was so nice to see her and hear about her grandkids. She also explained to me why the construction on Alameda Principal was still underway nearly two years later. When trying to expand the metro unground, they found an ancient ruin site from the Moors which stopped construction. Today, there is still controversy over how they will move forward. A good and well rested week in Málaga! Things to do:
Day trip to Nerja -busses run all day and are 9 euro round trip Climb to the Alcazaba to watch the sunset Camino del Rey (buy tickets far in advance) Places to eat: El Pimpi - Wine & Spanish Tapas Terra Mia or Ciao - Italian El Patio- Paella (large portions to share) Los Gatos - Spanish tapas Hello again, Yes, I know, I’ve been very bad at keeping up with this whole blog thing. I will try to be better at keeping a closer update, while still enjoying my travels. I want this blog to be something I enjoy writing, and not a dreaded task. But, I promise to write weekly, even if it’s just a brief update! So... with that being said. I left Lagos for Sevilla, Spain on the 21st of July. I was supposed to have a 3 hour bus at 8am but I decided to go out the night before (dumb, I know) and slept through all my alarms. So I booked the next bus to Sevilla which took about 5 hours and arrived in the early afternoon. I checked into the Black Swan hostel (which is amazing and I highly recommend) and then spent the afternoon walking around the city exploring. Black Swan Hostel It was hot, 105 degrees Fahrenheit hot, but I made the best of it and treated myself to a delicious fresh squeezed orange juice while sweating through every article of clothing I had on. After a busy week in Lagos, I headed back to the hostel and went to bed at 8:30pm and slept for over 13 hours. Much needed. The next morning I got up early to explore the city again. I spent about 2 hours exploring the Plaza de España which was absolutely breathtaking. The architecture, mosaics, and colors used were astonishing. I was also surprised at the lack of tourists in the plaza (probably due to the extreme heat). After a morning of exploring I went back to the hostel to sit in the air conditioning (“air con” as the Aussies call it) and met up with a bunch of girls who were all taking gap years between high school and college to work and travel. Sarah, Taryn, Tilly, Gemma, and Cameryn were all from South Africa, living in the UK working various jobs at boarding schools, as a scuba instructor, and at a childcare center. I had also met a girl named Anna earlier that morning and she was just traveling around solo so I invited her to join our exploring. We went to the Alcazar to walk around the “you can’t leave Sevilla without seeing” landmark. It was beautiful, but again, very hot. After we got ourselves a nice slush or "granizado" in spanish. In case you haven’t caught on to how hot it was, don’t go to Sevilla in July if you don’t like the heat. But, you should definitely add it to your bucketlist if you haven’t visited already. It is absolutely beautiful and I could have spent an entire week there exploring the beauty. After just a quick pit stop, I left for Malaga by bus that night.
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