Spain

By Katie

We arrived in Spain on November 10 and stayed for about 2 and a half months. We stayed by a lovely beach in Puerto du la Duquesa near Manilva. We found lots of sea glass, and surprised mom at Christmas by turning a piece of blue glass into a pendant for her. We played on the beach quite a bit, but it was too cold for swimming.  

We went on hikes up in the mountains with a lady named Johanna who had a hiking company called Sur Walks. She showed us the culture and beauty of Spain. We enjoyed tapas, delicious olives and even drided pork legs! She took us to a cave with neolithic cave drawings that was really amazing. The tour guide said that the cave was about 250 m long! It was very dark and we had to use giant flash lights to see. They didn't put any permanent lights in because over time it could make the drawings lose their colour and disappear. The cave ws also very wet and quite slippery so we had to be very careful, especially on the steps. The outside temperature was very cold compared to the inside of the cave which was about 16 degrees. There were lots of stalagmites and stalactites wich were so amazing considering one cm. takes about 100 years to form!!! Some were even connecting from the ceiling to the floor! There was also two small ponds in the cave that did not have any fish or bugs in them but they were still cool to see. I thought it was so cool to see drawings that were made so long ago! I'm really happy we went.

My favourite place, though, was the city of Ronda. I loved the look of the truly Spanish town. White houses with red roofs and cobble stone streets! Old bridges and bull fighting arenas, happy people and beautiful veiws! Our hike took us through an olive tree farm and up a long hill to some stabels where you could ride horses!  The town had an old bridge built in the 9th century and the "new" brige built in the 13th century!  The old bridge also doubled as a prison to put the bad guys. We ate a beautiful Spanish tapas lunch in Ronda. The restaurant was built of old stone and had tall archways and exposed wood beams. We had delicious potato cakes, dried pork leg slices with cheese, salad with oil and vinegar, and sausage slices in a red sauce. If I were to go back to Spain I would probably live in Ronda and eat lunch at Bodega De La Veradad.

Of course we couldn't go to Spain without seeing Barcelona and some of Gaudi's works of art! Barcelona was drop dead gorgeous! Gaudi's buildings were elaborate and well, Gaudi ! My favorite building and probably his most famouse was the Sagrada Familia Church, which means sacred family in Spanish. It was so tall, and it wasn't even finished ! It ws Gaudi's life's work and he only got to work on it for 40 years of his life. His goal was to make 12 tiny towers representing the 12 apostles, two larger towers representing Mary and Joseph and one final tower, the largest, representing Jesus. We were able to walk up one of the towers and had a magnificent view! Inside, the first thing you notice is the elaborate and beautiful  stained glass windows! They are extremely tall and flowed in colours of cool blue, warm red, sunny orange, lush green and bright yellow. Looking at them you might forget to look up and see the beauty of the arched ceilings! Tall pillars reach to the top and detailed paintings look down at you. Smooth rock and soft colours bring the wide room to a comfortable and beautiful place! 

We celebrated a Spanish Christmas back in Puerto Du La Duquesa with my Aunty Kyla and Uncle Tom. It was so nice to have them come visit us for the holiday! I made a small origami nativity scene to put under our 2 foot tall Christmas tree and an angel to put on top of it. Mom made an extraordinary dinner with a little help from Cooper and I. Uncle Tom and Aunty Kyla brought Stove Top Stuffing along from home, which was the added touch we needed. We played games and had lots of fun.

Spain was beautiful and even though I would have loved to learn more Spanish!!