Spain: la fiesta y la siesta

Last week I journeyed to Spain in an attempt to extend the summer by a few extra days of warmth and sunshine before coming to terms the fact that it is the beginning of autumn already. This was an interesting holiday as I sort of went with both family and friends. My mum and her friend stayed in one apartment and my brother, a couple friends and I stayed in a different one. This gave us the opportunity to come together in the evenings or mornings and share our experiences, but also the freedom to do the things we wanted to do separately during the day.

After starting off the first day all together with freshly baked croissants (mmm...) we parted ways with mum and drove out to Alicante, the closest city to where we were staying. Avoiding the toll road, we made it there at about midday, when the sun was beating down hard. So we decided to do what any well educated person would and made our way to the castle which is on a mountain. which we had to climb. in 32+ heat... yeah... maybe not the best idea, but we did it. We armed ourselves with water, applied sun cream and off we went.

Awesome views opened up before us and though the beach down below was beckoning us to come down we walked to every point of the castle we could, to every isolated tower overlooking the coast, in it's day helping to spot incoming pirate ships.

After the great hike we grabbed lunch at a 'traditional' kebab place and cerveza's in hand marched down to the beach for a well deserved swim break before walking around a bit more of the city.

The next day we had to make due without the car as the other half of our party were using it and decided to spend the day hiking along the coast. Unfortunately, we mistakenly went the wrong path and ended up going for a short walk to a lighthouse and back. This took us past a story I enjoyed about how the island of Benidorm came to be.

Mountain can be seen in image below

Even though we felt bad about not going the way we had intended, we still saw some beautiful sites and decided to take a bus to the other side of the path after a swim and walk the route from the other side. However, we once again overestimated our whole teams ability and enthusiasm to walk long distances in the blazing sunlight and were tempted by some lesser known hidden away beaches so we once again took a much shorter walk, had some apple pie on a beautiful cliff and went for another swim.

Valencia was our next city of call and we got there right as the free walking tour we registered for had already started. Of course it still took time to park and figure out where this square we needed to go to was so we ended up wandering around and then waited for the second tour to begin.

Rotating Mary

The tour began with a quick history lesson about the city and went on to show some of the historical  places within the old town.The silk trade building was pointed out to us for 2 interesting reasons. The first was that it mentioned 'hanging rats' or bats as it is the symbol of the city (legend has it that a bat saved the city from invasion by waking up King James l of Aragon and calling his attention to the attack that was coming at night time) and the second these gargoyles that emphasise the not taking life too seriously quality that Valencians posses. I'll let you interpret them for yourselves ;) The argument to allow them to be built was that they 'portray sins that would send people to hell' as they were built on buildings surrounding the cathedral.

During the tour we also got a chance to try some Horchata- a traditional drink made from tigernuts as well as got directed to where we can have some good paellas and try some agua de Valencia- a local cocktail after which we decided to climb the cathedral tower. yeah, our logic is the best.

We finished the day off walking around the city of arts and science buildings which have more recently become a symbol of the city.

Our fourth day ended up being pretty lazy, lots of siesta, reading, resting which was nice, but we still wanted to do something more memorable. We decided to make our way to a nearby town we were told was offering some water sports and activities, but after being dropped off 20 minutes away and not finding anything having walked in the heat yet again we pretty much gave up and went for a swim. By some weird coincidence 10 minutes after being at this beach, my mum and her friend appeared there out of nowhere. Apparently the navigation system was set to take them to a beach and directed them to us. GPS- bringing families together. We spent the evening all together making a delicious home-made meal with fresh fish, salad, olives and sangria.

The next day we set out to see Guadalest valley, another 'must see' in the area which did not disappoint. It was also nice because for the first time we were on a hill we did not have to climb in the burning heat. We later went on to visit a waterfall we could swim under and become further refreshed. 

After a full day of site-seeing we decided to try out Spanish nightlife in Benidorm- a party destination that was oh so conveniently the next town over from where we were staying. Before we could begin our little fiesta we were called out on a mission to save mum from overeating and drove down to Benidorm's more quite beach where they were having dinner. My brother went to battle with half of the giant paella my mum had ordered while my friend and I occupied the beach chair and umbrella they had booked for the day. And so the party began, we danced on the beach, in the water and later made our way to the party beach to check out some bars and clubs.

Our final full day in Spain was spent going to a small island about an hours boat ride from Alicante so most of the day was spent travelling. We used that time to rest and recover from the late light out the night before and all ended up falling asleep on the boat back. 

Back at the hotel we once again had a joint dinner trying local meats and cheeses with fruit and sangria, a lovely way to end the trip. Adios for now Spain, but I think I will come for another visit in due time :)

Thoughts: Riding through life

Life is a train journey with a flexible ticket. You can pick your stops and adjust your destination as many times as you choose. There can be delays, unexpected changes, and schedules that cause you to rethink your next steps. You may meet people that have taken different routes to get where you are and you can invite them to ride with you or simply exchange experiences of your journeys and move on. Out the window, you can see the world you are travelling through, the various possibilities that are out there. You can choose not to look and close the curtains, but ride in the dark for too long and risk missing a stop worth getting off the train for. The journey consists of the stops and the ride that takes you to them, pay attention to them both. It's not just about where you are, but how you got there that's important. 

I'm back baby! :D

Started exploring right away :D So many places exist in Vilnius I have never been to either because they have recently opened like the Lower palace and the Cathedral bell tower or I have just never had a chance to go like a super cute cafe 'Čaika' selling some interesting drinks (with vegan options!) and home made snacks which might just become a favourite hangout place of mine. Here are just some photos from these wonderful places I visited on one of my first days back to Lithuania. 

There are so many places to discover, even though I'm home I can't help feeling like I am still travelling. Here's hoping for more great discoveries! :)

The end of an era

So this is it. I have graduated university. Time to say goodbye to being a student and begin a new chapter of my life. My last few days were spent with friends and family in Birmingham visiting the attractions I didn't visit throughout the 3 years I spent in this city. Better late than never I guess :P  Took some time to walk around and take photos of some often visited sites as well: Curzon street station, the Selfridge's building and of course the custard factory graffiti and sculptures.

Windows desktop quality :P

This involved watching a film in the Electric cinema- the oldest functioning cinema in the UK. This was a lovely experience. The cinema was small and cosy, you could order drinks and snacks like ice cream at the bar or even get them brought to you if you bought better seats and sat on the sofas at the back. The film we saw was about a jazz guitar player from the States which was great (need to remember the name and fill this in :P ). The film was shown as part of the jazz and blues festival that was going on all week.

I also finally made it to Cadbury world! Lived 20 minutes away my whole time at uni and never managed to go, but a friend visiting was just the push I needed to finally go and see it. Had so much chocolate that day... mmm...

The day before my graduation I took my parents to the botanical gardens which I hadn't seen before either. There was a jazz concert happening there as well which added a nice touch to the relaxing atmosphere that was felt walking around and marvelling at all the beautiful flora.

Was hard to say goodbye to Millennium Court (my student house) as well. So many memories and meals were made and so many friendships were started here. Had a blast playing volleyball in the summers, snow fights in the winters, many games of mafia, many apple pies from the apple tree in first year, many wall decorations and creative ways to make the rooms look less miserable... It's been a great 3 years, hope future residents will look past the obvious shortcomings and make the most of living here. I know I did.

Some inside jokes from final year