Islazul Villa La Mar Varadero

... though we searched, we were unable to find any places serving anything remotely close to a Thanksgiving dinner, and thus the 4 of us headed to a local restaurant reccommended to us by our hotel for some typical Spanish food. Though it was not the traditional Thanksgiving dinner that I so greatly miss in the states, it was at least a wonderful thing to have Mom, Torrey and Scott there to share the holiday with. The night ended after a brief shopping trip to Zara ...

... experienced to be believed.

The Architecture, art, landscaping, and history of the fortress and medina are beautiful, but nothing can match the palace. The mosaics, sculpture, fountains, views, and stories are incredible. This was the place where Islamic Sultans ruled for hundreds of years. After the Moors were expelled, it was also believed to be the place that Christopher Columbus convinced Ferdinand and Isabella to fund his little voyage ...

... and her friend, Rob flew to Spain to join them for Thanksgiving. They stayed in the coastal village of Nerja, so they were just down the road from us. They came in on the afternoon of Thanksgiving, so we decided to have our dinner on Friday (it was still Thursday in parts of the US, so we felt OK about it). Given that we didn’t have an oven, and there were no turkeys to be had in Spain, we had a truly Spanish ...

... de artesanato, como tinhamos visto na RTP Internacional que Portugal jogava às 19:30 eu e o Nel fomos logo avisando que queriamos ver o jogo. E lá fomos nós, apanhamos o autocarro turistico que precorre todos os resorts e vai até ao centro de Varadero, seca dos diabos, para em todas as estações e apeadeiros irra..., saimos com o Pedro e a Sofia do resort, mas acabamos por encontrar o Pedro e ...

... Cuevas de...?) and had hot cocoa and toast with pork fat...mmmm. The weather improved throughout the day and overall we didn´t gain much elevation. Saw flamingos in a pond near the road. It was Sunday, so the entire country was pretty much asleep. Fuente de Piedra to Los Villares: Uphill all day, again. Beautiful small roads, about 1 car every ten minutes. Big rolling hills of 100-200m, fairly steep. Stoppped breifly ...

... relaxed and read the rest of the day. Dinner was leftovers from the week- rice with vegetables and ham, meatballs, pasta with hot dogs, soup, etc. 24/3/08- Monday Back to getting up early. Not too fun. Hispanoamerica class was pretty interesting because we were talking about Semana Santa in Central and South America. Some of the places are even more intense than here. One has platforms that need to be carried by 100 people, a few ...

... The Spanish do have lunch a lot later and take their time when eating meals, so we took our time talking and getting to know each other more. Then, we walked to the other language school, where I think I will be for the classes in English. The building was so pretty, painted yellow with orange-ish roofs and palm trees all around. There have also been a lot of orange trees around, just randomly on the sidewalk or in the park ...

... When I get to Barcelona I plan to stay at the INOUT hostel which is run by people with developmental disabilities. It costs about the same as it would to rent a place so I guess I'm not losing money. I will chat them up and see if I can't come up with an arrangement with them work wise. I am a little doubtful because the government is involved. I will stay there until I find an apartment or an alternative place to crash. And also look for jobs. I hope that my mostly ...

After the day at alhambra, we took a much needed rest day. we still went to the cathedral, a super big one, but the rest of the day we laid low...nick went out and took some pictures of a bunch of grafitti tags...pretty interesting modern art. later tonight we met up with some people from our hostel and went out for paella...the famous spanish dish. its usually either seafood or meat or sometimes both, and rice, veggies, and a bunch ...

... Plus, an X14 is really for one person only. So, we capsized twice, then I flung myself off a third time. Not intentionally either. Each time you tip out of course it's a hassle getting back in because of the waves and the boat moving everywhere. Steve would have to get in and then haul me in after. My arms were actually sore the next day. Steve also got quite a large gash on his shin which he didn't notice until we'd gotten back in. Humbling ...