Holidays 2007

I wanted to write something about my ‘August 2007’ trip.  I thought it would be a good idea to take advantage of my work for the English class and produce a composition.

This year I took three weeks’ holidays, something I hadn’t done since I started work in my current job. As usual, I didn’t know where to go. I had several ideas – such as Morocco, Andalusia, Cuenca or, perhaps, some other places in Spain. I don’t like planes and I prefer to travel on the ground if it’s possible.

In the end, I decided to go to Cuenca and then to decide about the other destinations during the trip. I stayed in this monumental city for three days. I knew the city through postcards and photographs as well as through trips my parents had made there. The city is very interesting, not only because of its history, monuments and the style of the buildings, but also because of the people. They are very friendly and helpful, also happy to help you and explain anything about the city and its touristic interests.

As well as the town itself, there are lots of nice places in the surrounding area but the problem was I didn’t have a car (or a driving license) so it was very difficult to visit them. Nevertheless, you can do lots of excursions near the city on foot. In the end, I could only visit the famous Ciudad Encantada (“enchanted city”), which consists of natural formations made by erosion and other atmospheric phenomena. For this excursion, I used a special taxi service.

This time I was interested to get to know the city and to go to different places but I didn’t have time for everything.  Perhaps I will go back to visit these beautiful places one day and maybe I will have my driving license by that time.

The next city I visited was Córdoba (Andalusia). I was a little worried about the temperature of this region of Spain, not least when I arrived there and I saw the thermometer (40-41ºC). In the end, it wasn’t a great problem; 30 degrees in Barcelona is worse than 40º in Córdoba. Moreover, the weather didn’t seem so hot during those days.

I had never been to Andalusia and I was very interested to visit this traditional region. Apart from the main buildings in Córdoba – the mosque and the fortress – I went round the Jewish district, i.e. the old city, and I could see the typical Andalusian style of building and decoration (the patios and the flowerpots on the wall). The most interesting aspect of this town is the relation between Arabic, Spanish, Jewish and Sephardic cultures; there were also lots of andalusí houses.

Another thing I valued a lot in this city was the people – very friendly, as in Cuenca, but even more open. For example, the owner of the guesthouse was a very welcoming and entertaining woman. She had dinner with guests who travelled alone and she even invited us to eat paella. In that guesthouse I really felt as if I was at home.

I stayed in Córdoba for two days and after this I took the bus to Granada, also in Andalusia. This is a very beautiful town too but, if Córboba is smaller and quieter, Granada is bigger and more of a real city. There are several districts to see, with different styles in each one. In the center of the city one finds the cathedral, other churches and some important buildings, as well as a traditional commercial zone. There are some Arabic signs and some Andalusian patios but they are not very significant, much less so than in Córdoba. I was able to see a number of other interesting buildings and monuments in some other old districts of the city.

The most famous building in Granada is the Alhambra. Of course I visited it but I couldn’t see it completely due to the many restrictions and problems they give to tourists. It’s a shame. I had a bad experience there and I asked for the complaints book but it was a little thing in comparison with the many good experiences I had during the whole trip.

Two days later, on Sunday 19^th July, I left Granada and went by train to Almeria. My sister was staying with her boyfriend and his family in a little village near this maritime city. I got to the station at five o’clock in the afternoon and I intended to walk a little around the city. Naturally, I had a suitcase with me. Some years earlier I had done an Interrail and I remember that we left the luggage in a train station; in this way we could walk around the city just before or after our stay in the hostal. In this case, I wanted to see a little bit of Almeria while I waited for my sister, who was at the beach.  However, I was only able to see the sea and the Paseo Marítimo (promenade) because I was carrying so much stuff. It was impossible to find a safe place to leave it. When I asked in the station, they said that the left luggage office was closed. I think that this was because of a bomb threat. I wondered how it was possible that these things could happen in Spain in the 21^st century. Finally, after waiting some hours in the station, Alicia and Rubén (my sister and her boyfriend) arrived and we went to Rubén’s aunt’s house, where they were staying.

In contrast to the rest of the trip, in Almeria I got to know rural, rather than urban, life. I was in a little village without street lights, without shops, with great mountains all around and without any sign of life except for a few inhabited houses, that of Rubén’s aunt being one of them. It is, perhaps, the only inhabited house there in winter. However, it had all the resources they needed for living. The most curious thing was that Rubén’s aunt’s husband was ill with Alzheimer’s disease and yet he enjoyed good physical health and mobility, maybe because of the climate.

We went to the mountains and visited other little villages nearby (some of them deserted).  We saw an observatory and looked at Rubén’s sister’s greenhouse.

I felt at ease there since I have liked the countryside and mountains very much since I was young. In addition, I was able to become familiar with other aspects of Andalusian life.

Three days later, we went back to Barcelona. We got to the city after travelling for over ten hours by car. What a pain!

My trip finished at this point but there was over a week left of my holidays. Even so, I didn’t have any free days. During this time I had three family meetings since two cousins from Argentina, one of whom I had never met before, were visiting Barcelona. I had also agreed to meet up with another cousin of mine from Navarra during these days. We stayed in Barcelona, going around the city, visiting my family and going out at night.

Apart from these things, I wanted to make an excursion to the mountains during the holidays. As I have already said, I like mountains very much and making excursions to them once in a while. I had talked with a friend about going trekking near his family’s village (Vilabert, Tarragona). The problem was that I only had two free days and I needed at least three days for the trip (one day to go to the village, another day for the excursion and another one to come back). There was only one solution: to go to the village and do the excursion the same day (the alternative solution was more complicated in view of the train timetables). This meant getting up very early in the morning and taking a train at 7 a.m. In the end, I managed to do it.

Finally, I will conclude by saying that I got a lot out of my holidays, more than I thought I would at the beginning of them. It was very interesting to get to know different cities, different ways of life and people, to make an excursion, etc... and to meet some relatives who I hardly knew. There other things I always wanted to do but I ran out of time so I will find another moment to dedicate to them.

I hope the next holidays will be as interesting and complete as these were.