Adios Hermanos

I felt like I had barely unpacked from Rome when it was time to pack again for my last trip to Lagos. My friends and I had planned this trip to the coast of Portugal a long time ago and had been looking forward to our beach weekend ever since. There ended up being 8 of us going and sharing a room in a hostel, and we all left Thursday for an extended weekend trip.

The bus took about 5 ½ hours which was a bit too long for me, but we made it to the hostel easily and just in time to go out for the night. Lagos is a small town and very summer-y (it reminded me of Cape Cod a little) so it was really fun to go to the bars since everything was so close together. The first couple bars we went to were pretty empty (probably because it was a Thursday) but we came across one where we met a group of British guys who were also staying in our hostel. We talked to them for a bit before all heading back home together.

We woke up on Friday morning and after eating free breakfast upstairs, we were off to the beach. The beaches in Lagos were the most beautiful I had ever seen.

We spent the morning soaking up the sun and after lunch a bunch of us decided to swim through some of the caves. We weren’t sure where our swim would bring us, but it ended up being one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. It might not sound super exciting, but the fact that we found our own way through cliffs and caves to deserted beaches was so fun! This next picture is the beginning of our swim through the caves.

By the end of the day we were all pretty exhausted from the sun and swimming so we headed back to the hostel, where we were able to use a kitchen to cook dinner! It was so fun to make what we wanted and to do it together – living in homestays really deprives us of just hanging out and makes little things like cooking dinner together so much fun.

After dinner we went out for the night, wandering in and out of bars in Portugal, running into both friends from Sevilla (nearly my whole program went to Lagos this weekend) and friends from our hostel. It was a great night.

On Saturday we were a bit late getting to the beach due to the late night activities, but decided to take a little motor boat tour of the cliffs we had swam through the day before. We fit 4 people in each boat and for about an hour we were driven around the coast of Lagos, going even further than the day before.

After the grotto tour, we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in the sun. Saturday night was a bit quieter than Friday, but still a lot of fun. Since we hadn’t bought enough groceries for Saturday as well we went out for a quick dinner in town.

The owner of the hostel had told us about a breakfast place in town with full meals – something we are also deprived of in Spain – so we decided to head there Sunday morning since more than half of my friends were leaving that day to head back to Sevilla. Two friends of mine, Alex and Hannah, and I didn’t have class until later on Monday so we planned to stay until Monday morning. Breakfast was delicious and the place was a cute little diner – very summery and very, very small. Alex, Hannah and I then said goodbye to our friends who were leaving, and then headed back to the beach for the 3^rd day in a row! Don’t worry Mom, I applied so much sunscreen while I was in Lagos that I didn’t even get a tan line….I guess it’s better than getting burnt…

Anyway, after sleeping on the beach a bit, Alex, Hannah and I cooked another dinner in the hostel and then headed back to the beach to explore the cliffs. We had wanted to see the sunset on the beach because there is a point in Portugal which explorers used to believe was the ‘end of the world’ because when the sun sets, it sets into the ocean. Unfortunately this spot is a half-hour bus ride from Lagos and we didn’t know that ahead of time. So instead of that, we were able to wander around the area where we had swam days before since the tide had gone down so much. It was really beautiful at dusk and a perfect way to end our last night in Lagos.

The three of us took a 630am bus back to Sevilla on Monday morning, and although I normally have class, my teachers coincidentally cancelled class on Monday so I had the day off. An art fair had opened up right near the Cathedral while we were gone so I visited that this week and even picked up a few presents!

This past weekend was our last weekend in Sevilla, so my friends and I spent it visiting our favorite places in Sevilla one last time and going out as well. On Sunday we went to a bull fight – which I had been nervous for but also excited. Every fight, around 6 bulls are killed by ‘matadors’ and I expected it to be very gory. Instead of being horrified though, I actually enjoyed it. It’s not nearly as gory as expected, since the matadors kill the bulls by stabbing in a certain spot in the back. There is a lot of art and drama throughout the match, from the uniforms to the way the bulls are killed. At one point, one of the matadors actually was trampled by the bull and had to be pulled out by other men, which was incredibly scary. I thought he was going to be seriously injured but a few minutes after limping out of the ring, he was back in to kill the bull.

The rest of this blog was written during my last week in Sevilla, and it's now May 17 and I'm back home in Connecticut! All of my finals went well, and between studying and packing, I was able to revisit some of my favorite places in Sevilla, such as the Parque de Maria Luisa, Plaza de Espana, the Real Alcazar and the Cathedral. Thursday was my last day of finals and that night my program hosted a good-bye party for us. The party was held at Rio Grande, a beautiful restaurant on the river where my family and I went for my birthday dinner! It was a perfect location and a perfect way to end my semester abroad. I was able to see many friends from classes who I might not have seen otherwise to say our finals goodbyes.

my friends Alex and Hannah at Rio Grande

my host mother, Ignacia, and I on my last day!

Although many people were crying, it didn't hit me that I would be leaving Spain the very next morning. After the party at the restaurant, a bunch of us went to the bars nearby one last time and to say some more goodbyes. After that, I headed home and finished packing until 6am, when my cab arrived to bring me to the airport. I shared a cab with my friend Alex and we made it with plenty of time for our 9am flight to Barcelona. It was nice having a friend for the first flight, but after that we had different flights home. Fortunately, my flight to London and from London to JFK both were on time and went smoothly, so I arrived home on Friday night without problem. After my disastrous trip here, I was so relieved.

It's great to be home and see my family, although it's finally hit me that I am done with my semester abroad and am not going back to Spain. I hate to think I don't know when I'll be able to return next, but I hope its soon. Spain is a beautiful country with a unique culture that I hope you all get to visit (if you haven't already)!