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Things got a little bit complicated. Murphy's Law has finally gotten to me. No posts till June.

Ocean, Africa and happiness

When we came to Tarifa it was raining cats and dogs. We run to our hostel and got under blankets as soon as we came to the room. Luckily, we're the kind of people who, when exposed to unfortunate evens, such as rain during your holidays by the beach; instead of getting nervous, we react with laughter. And so we laughed and laughed, beds being comfortable weren't helping with motivation to get up. But after serious discussions about what is happiness (Stephanie said it's sitting in the dry room, eating an apple) we decided that what we need most is chocolate. So only after some serious chocolate hunting (Lidl was at the other side of town), we decided to go to the beach. 

It wasn't raining any more, but it was very windy. My shoes had gotten really wet during our run to the hostel earlier, so instead of freezing in wet shoes I went in my flip flops. So, looking really pretty with a scarf all over my neck and head, and flip flops on my feet, I went to meet the Ocean.

It was amazing.

All the rain and wind in the world would be totally worth it. The Ocean.

The long, wide, sandy beach. The waves that don't have neither beginning, nor the end. The sound of the incredible mass of water. The breeze. The air smelling like it can only smell on a beach. 

And then, when you look up, behind that wonderful water, there is Africa. Looking like it's too close to be a different continent. It's hard to believe, but it is true. 

You go a bit further, closer to a little peninsula, which is the southest south of Spain there is, and there you see the place where Atlantic meets Meditarrean Sea.

When we were on the beach and the sun was going down (behind the clouds, but still giving us beautiful light) Stephanie said 'it's better than an apple'. Then Hannah said 'it's better than chocolate'. And so I say, It was wonderful. Life is beautiful.

Meeting the Ocean for the first time in Tarifa

Ocean, waves, breeze... all the things beautiful

I fell in love with Porto...

I came across a quote which expresses exactly what I feel now:

Travel is the only thing you buy, that makes you richer.

My wealth is growing. Steadily.

And here are a few reasons why I fell in love with Porto this last weekend:

a night to remember (soaked in Porto)

Does every story about a night which you later recall with your friends have to start with "dude, we were sooo drunk"?  It seems like ours would more likely start with "oh my god, remember that night in Porto when we got sooo soaked". But let's start from the beginning.

I went on a trip to Porto and, since we arrived late in the afternoon, our first walk around town involved dinner and a night photo-session from a bridge. And it is important to say that Porto has 8 beautiful bridges joining both parts of the city. We crossed one of them, looking to "get the feel" of the true, non touristy Porto. We were ready for all kinds of weather - we had jackets, scarfs and all that. We did not, however, expect any serious change of conditions, as the sky looked "very pretty": 

Night sky in Porto

Very pretty soon turned out to be very misleading. It was starting to drizzle, so we decided to head back through the closest bridge. Entering it we were still taking pictures, as the city of Porto has various beautiful views to offer from different perspectives. It was rather windy, but so what? ;) 

More or less in the middle of this unlucky bridge, all of a sudden, it started raining cats and dogs. And I mean CATS AND DOGS. We got completely soaked. At some point you just stop caring any more if there is water running through your shoes...

A day later, now we claim rain was hitting us almost horizontally, and the wind did NOT help...

Although the true story might never be revealed, as all our accounts are a bit "influenced" by the bottles of Porto we bought after dinner and enjoyed during that walk;]...

The evil bridge

for German speakers only (cathedral in Salamanca)

First of all, I'm not gonna start writing my blog in German from now on, so don't worry. I wouldn't have written this piece if it wasn't my assignment. ;)Secondly, if you're a German native speaker or just know the language better than I do and you spot any mistakes, I apologise. I'm still learning. :)And last, but not least, if you don't know German at all, come back tomorrow for some fresh blogging in English! =)

ENJOY!

Unbedingt empfehlenswert: die Kathedrale

Das Markenzeichen der Stadt Salamanca ist eine zentral gelegene Kathedrale, die sehr groß und beeindruckend ist. Man sieht die Kathedrale aus der Entfernung, wenn man sich der Stadt nähert. Aber nur mit der Annäherung an das Gebäude kann die Kathedrale voll gewürdigt werden.

Was wir heute als Kathedrale bennenen, besteht eigentlich aus zwei verschiedenen Kathedralen. Die Alte Kathedrale (La Catedral Vieja de Santa María), die zwischen dem XII. und dem XIV. Jahrhundert gebaut wurde, und die Neue Kathedrale (La Catedral Nueva de la Asunción de la Virgen), die zwischen dem XVI. und dem XVIII. Jahrhundert gebaut wurde. Für das ungeübte Auge kann es so vorkommen, als es nur ein Gebäude gäbe, aber die beiden sind „zusammengewachsen“ und formen ein kohärentes Ganzes.

Beim Vergleich der beiden, La Catedral Nueva ist mehr repräsentativ und ich werde mich jetzt darauf konzentrieren. Die Fassade ist handgeschnitzt und von Anfang an macht einen großen Eindruck. Nach dem Eintritt erspürt man den riesigen Raum der Kathedrale, die sich durch den gotischen Stil kennzeichnet. Die Durchgänge sind breit und das Gewölbe ist hochragend. Es ist interessant, dass der Hauptaltar sich nicht auf der Rückseite der Kathedrale aber in der Mitte des ganzen Raumes befindet, und deshalb kann man den Altar umgehen. Auch die Orgel ist nicht typisch lokalisiert, weil, statt an der Eingangswand zu hangen, gibt es

zwei, die an den beiden Seiten des Hauptschiffs in der Mitte lokalisiert werden.

Die größte Attraktion ist jedoch die Besichtigung des Turmes der Neuen Kathedralen. Man darf bis zu einer Höhe von ungefähr siebten Stock hinaufgehen, aber keine Sorge, es ist nicht ein anstrengender Aufstieg, weil man unterwegs stoppen wird, um die Ausstellungen über die Kathedrale und ihre vierzehn Glocken zu besuchen. Wir können nicht auf die Spitze des Turmes emporsteigen, aber die beide Aussichtsterrassen, die den Touristen zugänglich gemacht worden, liegen hoch genug, sodass wir den Rundblick über Salamanca

genießen können. Aus der südlichen Aussichtsterrasse erstreckt sich der Blick über den Fluss Tormes, und bei schönem Wetter – auch über die Bergen (Sierra de Francia), die 70 km von Salamanca liegen. Es ist auf dieser Terrasse, dass wir erkennen können, wie die beiden Kathedralen verknüpft sind. 

Um sich zu der Nordterrasse zu begeben, müssen wir durch die Balkonen der Neuen Kathedrale, die uns ihre riesigen Räume mit einer anderen Perspektive betrachten ermöglichen – diesmal im Voraus, gehen. Nachdem wir auf die andere Seite hinübergegangen sind, müssen wir noch ein paar Stufen erklimmen und die zweite Terrasse wird sich unserer Augen bieten. 

Von dort können wir genau La Plaza de Anaya, die Fakultät für Philologie und dahinter die schönen roten Dächer der Altstadt von Salamanca sehen. Wenn man sich an der schönen Architektur der Stadt aus der Vogelperspektive sattsieht, bleibt einem nichts weiter zu tun, als langsam die Treppe hinunterzuklettern.

Manche Ereignisse bleiben lange im Gedächtnis, andere hingegen nicht. Als Verehrerin der Betrachtungen von verschiedener Städte aus hoch liegenden Aussichtspunkten muss ich zugeben, dass Salamanca nichts zu schämen hat und eine Mischung von Sonne und die Blicke der roten Dächer, der Flüsse und der Bergen werden sicherlich lange in meinem Gedächtnis bleiben.

rainforest in the middle of Madrid

It's a busy, busy time... but there will always be plenty of excuses!

So I'm making a promise to myself that I'll write down one thing a day, one thing about Spain, places I've seen, interesting observations made or anything worth sharing. Until I run out of those ideas. Or until I leave Spain at the end of May, whichever comes first ;)

Not to prolong anything... since I came to Spain at the end of February I've seen Madrid(several times), Sevilla, Cádiz, Tarifa, Gibraltar, Zamora and, of course, Salamanca. The last one is where I live now. But since we're on the subject of travelling, there is a place in Madrid where a lot of travellers go, which has a very unique feeling about it... I don't know if Scheldon Cooper would like it, but he would definitely come across A RAINFOREST in the middle of a giant "waiting room", had he tried to catch a train at Madrid Atocha Train Station.

When you enter the area, you can instantly feel the difference in air's temperature and humidity. There are plenty of seats around for you to enjoy the wait for your train, but don't be mislead - you won't have to wait  long. The trains arrive punctually and passangers keep coming in and out... The only people more interested in the unconventionality of this place than an occasional tourist seem to be children, as at the entrance to the rainforest there are plenty of lazy turtles that seem to be waiting for a train that never arrives... Nevertheless, Madrid Atocha brings your train travels to a new level.
(ESPECIALLY to anyone who knows how great PKP can be.[PKP is a polish train's company])