Since the last time I’ve written about my travels, I have had a little bit of time to rest and recharge after the consecutive travels I encountered. Although one week consisted of starting classes at the University of Oviedo, the next had many excursions in store!
Classes: At first, I tested into intermediate II for my classes, which I thought would be sufficient, but no. When I got to the classes, and they were all in Spanish, I realized that the professors at Rollins actually teach at a quicker pace in the higher level classes. This surprised me and I decided to switch into advanced, which also opened up more class options.
The weekend of Excursions: Since we many of us want to travel, we planned to take two excursions in one weekend, along with a soccer game which we attended. Ana, our supervisor, accompanied us on these trips and on all trips which we take as a group with Rollins. On Saturday we went to Covadonga and Cangas. This was probably my favorite because we got to go to the peaks of Europe! At first I wasn’t sure if our bus was going to make it, because the altitudes were high, but in the end we made it, with a few stops. At the top was the most beautiful view, and what made it better was the lakes! There were lakes around the mountains and the day was perfect. Although I would recommend bringing a warm jacket because it does get cold and windy!
Shortly after we made our way down and had lunch in Covadonga, which followed by driving to the Cangas, which were sort of caves. When we got there, we realized that it was a church and tomb inside a cave, which was pretty cool because there was a waterfall below. Then, we went to see the Basilica, a got to watch a Spanish wedding take place!
On Sunday, we woke up early and made our way to Cudillero, which was a small fishing town with beautiful views. Along the way we stopped in the most northern part of Spain, and almost died climbing cliffs. It was definitely worth the trip and the beautiful pictures which we got to take!
Once in Cudillero, we climbed to the top of the little houses, which almost resembled Greece on along the coast, and saw everything from above. It was a small town, and so when we climbed down, the best thing to do was eat. We ate so much wonderful seafood, I think I have developed a new appreciation for it! I had seafood soup and paella, being that paella is a number one food here.
After lunch, we drove to another town, called Aviles, where we toured the historical district and another church. After we were finished, we made our way to Gijon, again, and experienced a real soccer game in Spain! Gijon played Valencia, in which Gijon lost, but the game was very good, and the fans very passionate about their sport. Although our home team lost, the seats were amazing and the experience like no other!
Next week I will be traveling to Madrid and Toledo! Till next time!