San Fermin!

I honestly had low expectations for San Fermin. Between what I heard from people in Tudela (who are admittedly prone to exaggeration- whether about the freezing cold winters, which never actually dropped below freezing, the blisteringly hot summers, where the temperature hasn't actually climbed above 80 in weeks, and apparently San Fermin as well!)- you're going to die if you go on a Saturday, there's no bathrooms, you'll come home stained purple from wine, bring lots of kalimotxo (red wine and coke, offical fiestas drink of Navarra) cause you'll never be able to even get into a bar, you'll pay 10 euros for a beer- and what the English speaking news report on it (basically the same, you'll get everything you own stolen, your clothes will be ruined, etc.) I was expecting a fantastic party, but a really overwhelming crowd of drunken foreigners who I would want to punch in the face while I was covered in red wine and wondering when and how my my phone had been stolen.

Fortunately, none of that happened. I came home with everything I went with and the only stain on my pristine white shirt was a casualty while I was still in the apartment (typical Hilary, right? I would take a sample sip of our kalimotxo before I even left and dribble it down my shirt). We had no problem finding bathrooms, bars with reasonably priced drinks, and I didn't hear a word of English until my walk back to the bus station (obviously excluding any English spoken my friends, but they live in Tudela so that doesn't really count). 

Despite some low expectations, I was actually so excited about San Fermin  I couldn't sleep. As this cartoon sums up perfectly, adults are as excited about San Fermin starting on July 6th as little kids are about the three kings bringing them their Christmas presents on January 6th! 

July 5th: "Have you taken out your pañuelico (scarf)? Have you tried on your pants from last year? Have you picked a spot for lunch?" The joys of San Fermin!

I lay awake tossing and turning trying to decide what to wear, what to bring for food, for drink, if I would regret bringing my bag or my phone when they inevitably got stolen (I may have slightly overanalyzed the whole thing, but the thought of planning an overnight visit somewhere without booking a hotel was a little terrifying). The excitement (and crazy nerves) only increased as the day dawned, sunny and warm, and I donned the standard issue uniform- white shirt with a newly purchased red belt and red Tudela pañuelico. 

I'm now the proud owner of this beauty.

Living in Tudela gave me a chance to experience San Fermin as a "local" and oh my god it was incredible. In typical Tudela fashion, once we let slip to one of our favorite bartenders that we really had to make this our last round of drinks cause we were going to San Fermin the next day he pulled up a chair, grabbed a pen and paper and started scribbling away at a long list of recommendations. You may be foreign but that doesn't mean you have to do San Fermin like foreigners, he said. You´re from Tudela and you´re gonna do this right. Go here for the cheapest beers, go here for the cheapest food, go here for great mixed drinks, go here to watch the fireworks, and if anyone tries to rip you off, you just tell them you´re not gonna fall for it, you might be foreign but you´ve lived in Tudela for five years (five apparently being the magic number for anyone to take you seriously). 

While the advice was priceless, the biggest gift was still to come. And as he neared the end of his spiel, he asked us if we knew where the Cafe Iruña was in the Plaza del Castillo (Hemingway´s favorite bar in the most important square in Pamplona, for those who aren´t aware). No big deal or anything, but he was a member of this super swanky casino lounge on the second floor above the Cafe Iruña and he could give us passes to get into this members-only bar. If you´re still going at 8:30, he said, make sure you don´t miss the breakfast and dancing they do after the encierro, or running of the bulls. And all I can say is thank god we decided to get one more round because those passes were a game changer for the whole San Fermin experience. 

After what felt like an eternal bus ride through fields filled with sunflowers and the windmill-covered Navarran hills with the rest of the tudelanos making the trip up to Pamplona, we enjoyed a couple beers around the city as we scoped out the insanity. Oddly a couple places were places we´d been on previous trips to Pamplona, and it was very bizarre to see them shifted to fiestas mode- pinchos gone, plastic cups out, and packed at 6 in the afternoon!

By 7 we couldn´t resist any longer and had to try out our VIP passes. We were definitely afraid that if they looked at us too long they would realize we should not under any circumstances be allowed in, seeing as how we were broke English teachers carrying tote bags full of bottles of kalimotxo, so I gave them a quick flash of the card as I smoothly kept walking and we were in.  

Our balcony. Pure class.

The situation obviously demanded champagne. Who says San Fermin can't be classy?

Dad´s trip to Spain: BCN and MAD

Oops, got distracted before I could finish the trip! From Navarra we are off to Barcelona. Four days (but really two and half) was not really enough, but we did get to see a good number of Barcelona´s long list of sights: climbing up to Montjuic castle, checking out the magic light show at the Montjuic Fountain, going inside the amazing Sagrada Familia cathedral, and taking a day trip to the mountain monastery of Montserrat were all news ones for me! We also had time to visit the Barceloneta beach, get lost in the Barri Gotic, took a taxi drive-by of the Casa Batlló, and watched a whole lot of World Cup games, most memorably the US-Portugal game at 2 in the morning in an Irish pub filled with an overwhelmingly American crowd (the most Americans by far that either myself or my sister had been in contact with in about a year, definitely an experience!).  

The light show at Montjuic, much more impressive than I was expecting!

I may have developed a slight obsession with the stained glass in the Sagrada Familia.

Dad´s Trip to Spain: Navarra!

Ever since I arrived in Navarra I´ve been dying to visit the north. Unfortunately, without a car its basically impossible (and some stupid laws in Spanish mean that because I´m a Spanish resident, my US license is no longer valid here). Having Dad around though meant we could get a rental car and drive from San Sebastian down to Tudela, taking a long and winding 10 hour trip with lots of pit stops through the entire province of Navarra. And OH MY GOD NORTHERN NAVARRA! All I'd ever imagined and then more.

First stop after leaving San Sebastian was crossing the border over to France to see Sare and try a Gateau Basque, a typical cream filled kind of pie that is very typical of this region. Sare is part of Pays Basque, the French Basque Country and it was fascinating to see the two languages and culturals coexist, since I´m so accustomed to seeing the Spanish Basques.

The beautiful drive into Sare

Dad´s Trip to Spain: Pais Vasco

I´m finally getting around to updating this blog after a whirlwind couple weeks- finishing the school year and saying goodbye to my students and coworkers, moving to a new apartment, and taking a two week tour of Spain with my dad and my sister! After a weekend in Sevilla, the two of them flew up north to Bilbao where I met them. From there we continued through Pais Vasco and Navarra, finishing up with Barcelona and Madrid. Here´s part 1 of the trip: visiting three of the most important towns/cities in País Vasco: Guernica, Bilbao, and San Sebastian.

Our first full day in Pais Vasco, we took a day trip to Guernica, a small town about a half hour outside of Bilbao. Guernica is famous for two reasons. Firstly, Guernica has been for hundreds if not thousands of years the symbolic centre of Pais Vasco. For over a thousand years, the inhabitants of Guernica and Bizkaia (the province) have gathered under the oak tree (a descendent of which still stands outside the Guernica Assembly Hall). Even after Bizkaia was taken over by neighboring kingdoms (Navarra, Castilla, eventually becoming part of Spain), the invading kings respected the existing laws and government of Guernica, called fueros. The Kings of Spain even pay a visit to Guernica after being coronated to swear their loyalty to the fueros of Bizkaia.

Posing with Guernica´s famous oak tree

May in Review

I'm not really sure where May went. When I look back, I can't believe how many things I managed to squeeze into one month, which I guess is why it flew by! Here's a quick recap of what I've been up to:

Tudela: I started out May by staying in Tudela, even though I had a 4-day weekend and could have traveled (I know, gasp!), due to a combination of burn out after so much traveling in April and excitement about witnessing Tudela's famed Vegetable Week! Vegetable Week could ONLY happen in Tudela. They're vegetable crazy, and insanely proud of their famed vegetable. All week, the bars had special vegetable pinchos available and Saturday night, all of the peñas (small food clubs organized by groups of friends) open to sell beer and their hand-made pinchos, all featuring local vegetables. I went out with a coworker and all of her friends and they showed me their favorite peñas. I would have been lost without them! Most of the peñas were completely packed and it was impossible to even get in. Even the streets were full of people, and there were even tourists from France who came down for the weekend. Vegetable week also included a series of free concerts, a "carpet" made entirely of sliced up vegetables that was on display under the gazebo in the main plaza all weekend, and a parade on Sunday, including two Navarra traditions: jotas and gigantes. 

The vegetable carpet

Auryn concert in Plaza Nueva (picture One Direction but Spanish,
completely with lots of screaming 12-year-olds)

Parade on Sunday

Dancing jotas

Gigantes dancing in Plaza Nueva

San Sebastian: The following weekend, I was off to San Sebastián with a bunch of my Irish friends. It´s easily one of the most beautiful cities in Spain and a perfect spot for a relaxing weekend with great food and breathtaking views! We visited the amusement park on the top of Monte Igeldo, walked around the old town, and took a morning walk along the beach before reluctantly heading back to Tudela. The only way I could drag myself away was knowing I'd be back in a month with my dad and my sister!

Amusement park on Monte Igeldo

View from the top of Monte Igeldo. Pretty hard to top this!

Volverla a ver

La verdad, señora, empiezo a pensar que hay un placer todavía mayor que el de ver Granada. Y es el de volverla a ver.

It's always weird to be back in Granada, to see my old home through different eyes. And it was especially interesting to return with my sister, who wanted me to show her my Granada, and give her my personal tour of all my favorite places. The three days there were a bizarre mix of revisiting old favorites and discovering hidden gems I had no idea existed! I swear Granada is more beautiful every time I come back and volverla a ver.

We arrived at lunch time and had a huge lunch with my host family in their beautiful garden patio of all my favorite foods: rice with rabbit and artichokes, jamón, their homemade salchichón, and for dessert some typical Semana Santa sweets: torrijas (basically french toast, Spanish style) and leche frita. 

Next, we climbed up towards the Alhambra to get a good spot for the Santa María de la Alhambra processions, which were incredible. Unlike most of the processions, which just walk around the city, this one begins in a church next to the Alhambra and descends through the forest down into the city. The sunlight streaking through the green forest and illuminating the white lace on the flat as we joined the mass of people escorting the procession down in the city was magical! 

Nazareños

Following the procession down into the city

When we finally made it back down to Plaza Nueva, we took advantage of the last couple hours of sunshine to stroll along the Rio Darro and up to the Albaicin for sunset. 

Carrera del Darro, Granada´s prettiest street

Making friends

Sevilla tiene un color especial

I'll be honest, I didn't love Sevilla the first time I visited my sister in December. She was still getting to know her city and hadn't fallen in love with yet. Together, we explored Sevilla, trying to figure out what we liked about it. And while I was impressed by Sevilla's monuments, I left feeling indifferent, lost in the city´s tourist façade and unable to dig down and discover the heart of the city. This trip though, my sister´s passion for her city was inescapable and highly contagious. For a week and a half, I got to live like a local, going to the movies, picking her up from school, getting dinner with her friends, going shopping, getting ice cream, taking long siestas, and falling hopelessly in love with the city.

If you want some mood music for this post, click play below!

It was a perfect two weeks-we managed to cram in a trip to Granada for the weekend, a trip down to the beaches of Cádiz, and an afternoon exploring the Sevillan pueblo of Carmona, while still having lots of time to explore our favorite parts of Sevilla. 

Thursday morning churros in the Macarena, watching the hustle and bustle of Semana Santa. 

Getting lost in Sevilla´s maze of old streets, discovering beautiful little churches like this one.

Shopping in plazas like this that are off the typical tourist track.

Sunset along the banks of Guadalquivir & the Puente de Triana, in what quickly became my favorite spot in Sevilla.

Post-siesta coffee to wake us up for the all-night Madrugá processions, which begin around midnight and go until noon the next day.