Cabo de Gata

Two weeks ago I was laying on the beach nearest to Granada with some friends talking about what we were going to do for the upcoming 5 day weekend we had last week.  They were all going on a beach trip to this place called Cabo de Gata near Almería, Spain about 2 hours away from Granada in the south of Spain. I seriously had wanted to go but was unsure financially how I would manage it. But then one of their drivers had to be back to Granada early so they were going to need someone else who knew how to drive stick shift to drive the 2 cars they were going to rent back to Granada. And then I realized that I don't have that much time left and that all my friends were going on this trip and I should just suck it up and do it. So i happily agreed to drive. What a trip it ended up being. 13 of us total, 2 cars, giant beach house for 5 days. I try and just give you the highlights.

On Thursday three of us met after class to go rent the cars. I had rented a car last semester and the process was super easy so I didn't even think about all of the things that could go wrong, but boy did things get crazy. We had to take the 40 min bus to the airport to pick up the cars. Since I had been a late addition to the group and my friend Sam had booked the cars I never bothered to read any information on the cars what so ever. Also, the other driver was not 21 which was apparently a rule. So we showed up to the airport and began to try and collect the cars we had already paid for. Well, I don't have a credit card and they did not except debit or cash. Then they busted the other girl for not being 21 and then my friend Sam was going to just pretend she was a driver but she forgot her passport which was needed to rent the cars. So we ended up taking the 40 min bus back into granada. Sam ran home for the passport and my friend Brette and I stayed on the bus. Well little did we know there were no more buses back to the airport. but the now off duty bus driver said he would drive us back to the airport b/c he had to take the bus there anyways. super cool guy. He even ended up driving back through the city to pick up Sam and our friend Katie who was going to now help us rent the cars.

Another 40 min bus ride later we showed back up and finally got the car situation taken care of, 6 hours later...

Woke up early and hit the road but not after receiving a 200 euro fine on one of the cars for parking in a loading zone (not mine). That was special. Finally got everyone together and got on the road. Almería is in the only desert in Europe and happens to be close to where a lot "Spaghetti Westerns"were filmed. They buildings used film are still there and when you drive along the highway you seriously think a group of native americans on horseback is going to come charging over the hills shooting arrows at you. It's super cool. We didn't visit the old west towns b/c they now charge to see them and we were all thrilled at the fact that we were just in the same area as them.

Finally made it to the beach house. It slept 10 but we had 13 so there was a lot bed sharing that happened. Weather ended up being fairly terrible for beach going but we all agreed that if the weather had been too good we would have never gone exploring. The second day we were there I ended up having to drive a girl to the emergency room to get stitches in her foot after she stepped on a piece of broken glass in our house. That was crazy. I had to go ask a neighbor where the hospital was. Super hilarious because as soon as we left the hospital we drove 30 min to another beach and were exploring. Super bizarre. We spent 5 days driving around without maps (best feeling in the world), climbing rocks, laying on beaches, eating junk, laughing until all hours of the night and enjoying our freedom. We all agreed that it was one of the best trips ever. No body wanted to leave and we have since then all hung out everyday since returning to Granada.

 Here are a few pictures from the weekend. A few of them my friend Katelin took because I was really good at forgetting my camera.

yep. that's real

our house!

Day 1 of exploring

classic

water was so clear!

storms a brewin'

drive dancing

scaring one lane mountain road

San Jose, a gorgeous beach

North Carolina buddies! (Katelin)

San Jose

San Jose

Day 4 beach. 

love these girls (Katelin & Sam)

our beach by our house.

We came back to Granada on Tuesday and only had to go to class Wednesday and half of Thursday before it was the weekend again. Sigh...what a rough life. Thankful for every minute of it! One month from today I will be getting on a plane America bound. There's a crazy thought.

Viva España!

¡Bienvenidos a Nerja!

This weekend I went to the beach. To be more specific I went to Nerja, Spain and swam in the Mediterranean and got way too much sun. But it was so fun and crazy pretty. It is so pretty here. I mean my face was glued to the window the entire bus trip there and back. We drove along the cost for an hour. Kilometers and Kilometers of coast line dotted with small cities and crazy awesome beaches. And on the way back it was sunset and the colors were unbelievable.

We stepped off the bus in Nerja and had absolutely no idea where to go. It was awesome. We just started walking toward the water. The larger part of our group that had gone was staying the night so they peeled off to look for a hostel. About 5 minutes into our walk we asked a British couple what beach we should go to. You see, apparently Southern Spain is like the Florida of the US, except alot cooler and lots of people from all over Europe. So they directed us to the water and we continued on our way. We finally settled on this beach. It felt so good to just lay on the beach most of the day. The water was sooooo cold. But so refreshing. we would wait until we were almost sizzling hot and then all run into the ocean to cool off. Simply the best.

One thing about European beaches that is hilarious to me that is as soon as you set foot on the sand you can feel free to be as exposed and free as you pretty much want to. But as soon as you step off you have to go back to being as modest as possible. The contrast is very striking and also makes it difficult to take pictures. I was prepared for it but alot of people in our group were not. Definitely hilarious to watch peoples reactions to moms playing with her children. topless.

But anyways, here are a few pictures from the day. It was amazing.

I will definitely be going to the beach as often as possible before it gets cold. I need more days like this one in my life

Mountains or the Beach??

Growing up anytime someone would ask me "mountains or beach?" I would immediately answer, "mountains, duh." Mostly because I was (okay maybe still am) a Colorado junkie. Or maybe because Texas beaches certainly aren't anything to write home about. Also anytime I went to the beach growing up I always had to have something to eat or drink because I hated salt water and sand annoyed the crap out of me. I mean, all that sand, especially getting places you don't want it to be causing many tears.

All this changed this past January of 2010 when my family and I went on a cruise to the Caribbean. I mean just look at this and tell me you don't want to go there right now.

The Dominican Republic, US & Virgin Islands, as well as a private island in the Bahamas. It was literally love at first sight. I decided right then and there that I could become a beach person. The water was unbelievable. All of the sudden the saltiness wasn't so salty and the sand didn't bother me quite as much. I felt right at home.

I literally wanted to drop out of school and move to the British Virgin Islands immediately. Anywhere where the water was sapphire blue and the the wind was warm. Mmmm I feel so warm just thinking about it.

I WILL go back someday. And it will be awesome. There is no doubt in my mind