Dia 3: Road Trip

Tuesday morning we checked out and hit a breakfast of cafe con leche and toast at a place in a shopping center. The rest of the team was surprised to see breakfast be so casual (aka unfilling) so they grabbed some pastries and more coffees as we went back to the car. En route to Granada, we were set on stopping in Ronda and Antequera. Both places are out of the way, but came highly recommended by friends and people in the know.

The drive to Ronda was spectacular. We passed through endless plains, rolling hills, and beautiful mountains. The Alfa Romeo was eating up the terrain and we discovered (to our delight) that kilometers pass much more quickly than miles, and that 150kph seems to be the common highway speed. The 160 kilometers to Ronda were a pleasure to behold, and April even stayed awake the whole time!

So we got to Ronda and were immediately enchanted. We saw its small-town charm and the excellent Christmas decorations which lined their streets as we drove in. We parked the car and went exploring. We encountered the Bullring, which stands as the center of the city. Ronda is the official home of the modern bullfight, and its Plaza de Toros sits magnificently at the edge of a large cliff.

The whole town sits hundreds of feet above a valley

Apes and I in front of the Plaza de Toros

Ronda did not take very long to become one of my favorite spots in the whole country. I have been around to nearly every part and its charm is altogether unique. It boasts of an incredible bridge uniting the towns two sides, which lie on opposite sides of a vast ravine. Take a look at this thing...

Despite its many charms and its friendly people, Ronda could not hold us back. Further adventure called. Off we were to Antequera, and equally isolated pueblo, which we were told was a tremendous example of authentic Spanish life. The road to Antequera was equally beautiful but infinitely more curvy. Dad really let loose and let the Alfa Romeo prove its valor. Mom and I enjoyed the ride, but April got sick and willed herself back to sleep to avoid the agony.

Our Antequera arrival came just minutes after sundown, but we had enough time to drive to the top of town and survey its beauty. It was very impressive and very authentic (something which is increasingly difficult to find here). We really only had time for a quick walking tour and then one last drive the town to see the Christmas lights. Here are some photos.














Now, ideally I would write that we left and Antequera and simply cruised into Granada for the night. Ideally. What really happened was that we found the general area of our hotel, but then spent two hours trying to get the car there (with no success). As fate would have it our hotel was located in the Albaicin, a district of town designed to not allow cars on its streets. Its a fun idea, I admit, but when you are trying to unload luggage and find parking this is a nightmare. Much like our Rastro experience in Madrid, we gave up and found a different place. After all that frustration and anxiety it was hard to remember the fun that the day provided. But life went on, and so did the trip.........

Dia 2: Sevilla

In the words of April Ludwick:

We woke up in the beautiful city of Sevilla on the second day and headed downstairs to catch a light breakfast before we would head out for a filled day. Seth had made plans for us to go to the La Giralda Cathedral (which is the largest in the entire world). I didn't know what to think of this day, as Seth was explaining it, because I knew that if we were going to any place of great historical value I would either be lectured about it or quizzed on it by Dad. So we ventured out into the freezing and hectic city to walk through the shops and head toward the general area of the Cathedral.

Is this car for real? They are everywhere here!

This morning stroll included many sketchy looking men staring at us, cigarette smoke everywhere, and many road crossings. (Just as a side note, many of you know that I am driving now and have 2 months of experience under my belt, meaning that I am more aware of other drivers when I am on the streets). Spanish drivers have little common sense when driving, which is apparent when they break every rule that is laid out (including street signs, speed limits, lights, people walking across the street, etc.). They enjoy using their horns as often as possible, even if there is nothing going on around them. Anyways, we ended up getting to the Cathedral in one piece, luckily dodging the cars as they ran through the crosswalks when we were walking, and then honked at us like we were in their way. The trip moto, that Seth recites daily, is "Be Bold" and stare the drivers in the eye as you walk in front of them to let them know who is master.

On the way my mom and I would stop in almost every store and peak around at the Spanish styles, try a few things on, and then move on. Meanwhile I don't know what Seth and dad were doing but when we walked out of the stores they would be sitting on a bench with cigars in their mouths and one leg crossed over the other, and trying to look "authentic."

We reached the Cathedral and were completely taken aback. It was gigantic and very different from any ancient historical building I had ever seen.

La Giralda tower, attached to the Cathedral

To enter it we had to walk through these stone tunnels and rooms that were dated back to the year 500. I was a little uneasy with the fact that we were walking through a room that was built 1500 years ago, but soon forgot my fear when we entered the Cathedral. It was hard to take in; the ceiling stretched up 200 feet and had carved detail that looked like lace. It was all held up by ten enormous pillars that had designs that looked like professional doodling. There were little room cut outs with historical facts about what the rooms were used for and who was buried in them. We got to see the place where Christopher Columbus was buried in the church as well as many other people and popes. As we were taking hundreds of pictures we noticed that there was a large group of people sitting in the back of the church in pews. We looked and saw that there was a wall of gold deigns and statues and crosses. Seth told us that it was the largest altar in the world. We walked over to sit and look but couldn't move. We sat and took pictures, just trying to take it all in, for probably 15 minutes. Then Seth told us that they had the King's and Queen's crown in a near room so my mom and I made a b-line for the room that he pointed to. The King's crown consisted of 10,000 diamonds, and probably thousands of rubies and emeralds. This experience was truly amazing and something we will never forget.

Did Tiffany's make that?

We walked outside to see that there were 5 horse drawn carriages that we just begging for us to get in. We rode through the city and gardens until we came to the end where we enjoyed a nice lunch.
There has been a little issue with me during this trip that is made each day a little difficult. The food in Spain (to me) is weird and unusual, especially to a person that is semi-picky. The fam gets angry because I won't eat the dishes such as "Squid and octopus in their own ink," but I can't handle it. Most of the food repulses me, but I have now found ways to get the typical Spanish cuisine in a more conservative way.

After walking what seemed like miles back to our hotel, we all took a siesta so that we would be ready for the late dinners that Seth always talked about. We took a cab downtown at about 8pm to find a place for tapas (Spanish for tiny portions of food which they eat before dinner).

One of our tapas spots

We noticed that every place we went was either not open until 10 or was empty, so we hopped around to three different places throughout 2 hours. Seth had been hoping that there was a flamenco place nearby because he had gone to a show and loved it and wanted us to experience it as well. We all sat down inside the show room that we found and we very excited for the show to begin. To Spanish singers (males) came to the stage followed by a guitarist. The show was about 2 hours long and the dancing was phenomenal.

This is the classic veteran lady; she was the best

The background singing was another story. Seth was actually offended by the laughing that was taking my mom and I over, but it was uncontrollable. The style of flamenco singing is a mixture of a baby crying, a toddler whining, and a person screaming for their life. It was like long sustained wailing and was very difficult to focus on the dancing when this was going on. My dad then pointed out the guys' faces as they sang and it cracked us all up. Needless to say, I got many close up photos of the singers as well as the dancers. It was a crazy and busy day but was full of awe and laughter. We enjoyed everything that the first day of Spain had to offer and we excited to go to the hotel and get a good 6 hours of sleep.

Dia 1: Ludwicks in Spain

Sunday Dec. 17th

Welcome to day one of the Ludwick Family (minus half our members) Christmas in Spain vacation. We will be trying to blog the experience for our (many) reader's pleasure.

I arrived at the airport at 8:40am, to find that the trip's first curveball had been thrown; the crew (Dad, Mom, April) would be arriving 45 minutes later than scheduled, at 9:45. This was not be a big ordeal, but rather the first of many malfunctions which would keep us on our toes while touring this country. Part of my waiting process was spent listening to chanting and protests from people whose flights were canceled by AirMadrid. This airline crisis also resulted in hundreds of people sleeping strewn across the floor. But I digress...

By 9 o'clock I was already suffering from boredom and impatience, so I came up with an idea: to predict the appearances of Dad/Mom/April upon arrival. Here is what I wrote

*April's is very predictable, she will be wearing a minimum of three new items (exclusively purchased for Spain). Maybe more. One of these items will be her new boots, I would bet my life on it.

*Dad's is a bit more complex. I would normally go with the standard Hawaiian shirt tucked into blue jeans with cowboy boots. However, having given him significant warning of cold and cultural differences, I feel like he may be equipped accordingly. To be safe I am going with blue jeans, dress shirt, and sport coat (but I'm not throwing the cowboy boots out).

*Mom will also certainly be sporting her new gear, but not to April's extent. A couple new items (her new boots for sure), and her contact lenses! She will be looking beautiful any way she goes about it, so no further comment is needed.

They arrived at 9:45, but emerged from the baggage claim around 10:15 looking awake, excited, and ready to adventure.

I snapped this candid of Dad as he was exiting. Notice the excitement...and the inaccuracy of my prediction!

We went and got the rental car keys, and sat down for a quick coffee and breakfast (despite it being Saturday night according to their bodies). I should mention that my predictions were very mediocre, but I will chalk that up to not having seen them in four months.

The Alfa Romeo meets its match

Our next stop was the Rastro (flea market) in Madrid, before hitting the highway to Sevilla. I could spend numerous paragraphs describing the extent of to which the attempted Rastro visit failed, but I will leave you with a few details.

1.) We began our search for a parking spot at about 11:25am...by 1:15pm, after finding nothing (and I mean nothing), we ditched Madrid and the Rastro altogether.

2.) Dad was pulled over (just one hour into the visit!) for talking to me on the cell phone while driving. Fortunately for him the officer spoke no English, but he did understand "One hour off the plane from California". He was let go without any punishment.

3.) Let us just say the whole experience was entirely a nightmare, and it was 100 percent my fault. Having not driven in the city at all I was unaware of the scarcity of parking and the general confusion of the streets.

Finally out of town, and underway on our vacation, we were able to relax. April and Mom went to sleep quickly while Dad and I plugged away on the "Autovia del Sur" which was to take us directly to Sevilla. We stopped for lunch in Manzanares, where we found the only place open to eat on a Sunday afternoon.

Our first taste of Spain was here

After the meal we switched positions and I took the wheel. I felt great about driving once again, although I am unlicensed and doing so against the law. I powered us through the drive while Dad and April slept this time. April was awake for about twenty minutes of the six hour drive, a real road-tripper.

April...really soaking it all in

After a minor detour in Sevilla we arrived to our hotel just before 8pm. We were all quite tired and ready to settle in for the night. We ate dinner at the hotel, most of the time as the only guests in the restaurant. By 11pm we were all asleep and dreaming of the coming day's adventure.

Navacerrada

Today I went hiking. It was the first form of legitimate exercise I have done since the last post, almost one month ago! Being that my semester ended on Wednesday, and that I am waiting (eagerly) for my parents and sister to arrive in Madrid on Monday, I had a few days to kill. My friend Matt and I had decided weeks ago on this hike, and so we spread the word. Turns out we recruited four of the world's finest people to join us. Audrey, Joel, and Allie (all students at Middlebury) and Alejandro (authentic Spaniard + our guide). We had a phenomenal time. Here are some of the highlights:

-Being truly fatigued after ten minutes. I am in the worst shape of my life and this hike wasn't necessarily the easiest. I was, however, able to make the whole venture without issue...but with lots of sweat.

From left to right: Joel, Allie, Audrey, Matt, Alejandro

Alejandro posing, Matt and Joel walking

I was there too!

-Taking our shirts off and getting wild in the snow. It wasn't extraordinarily cold, and having the shirt off was actually very refreshing. We also took a fun group photo on the stationary chair-lift as well.I wasn't lying, no shirts (Joel, Alejandro, Matt, Me)

For being in such bad shape it sure looks like I can still jump!

Hard to see, but its a sweet shot

-Eating Spanish tortilla and sharing a bottle of wine while overlooking Madrid and La Mancha. Alejandro's mom made tortilla for us and it was phenomenal. Throw in a bottle of authentic Spanish wine and it was extra special. Great food and great people is an unbeatable mix.

Little hazy, but you get the idea

So we all survived the hike (a few with minor injuries) without any bad incidents. We didn't run into any of the wild mountain goats, which I guess would be my only disappointment, but I cant complain. It will certainly be one of the most memorable days of my time here in Spain. Thank you Navacerrada.

End Note - This blog will be turned into a daily journal of our family trip through Spain during this Christmas time. Stay tuned and enjoy all of our fun(ny) moments. Feliz Navidad.