Year 2015

As the new years starts or has already started for some then it is time to make summary post about my 2015. It was a year of really good things and I am happy to have it 9 hours longer than usual because of being in America.

I don’t never make new years resolutions, if only then just that I would enjoy new year more and have more fun! And as it kind of is our own doing then I think I can keep that for the new year.

As usual, January is for exams and for relaxing.

February, the month I was crazy, starting my ESN time and also joined AIESEC. Also we got a visit from our American friends.

March – the month that changed my whole year. I started to live half-Erasmus life and were very active in ESN. Also I beat my fear speaking or singing karaoke in public.

April, the fool. Most of the time I spent it with my boys. I basically had second home in the dormitory.

May was amazing! I had some cool trips – Tallinn,Helsinki and one to Saaremaa. And the biggest thing was my own organized ESN Farewell party, which is the biggest party of the semester.

June – Sad month as all new friends started leaving Tartu. But in the meanwhile we had Midsummer parties.

July was for Beerfest, Hanseatic Days and also traveling to Vienna and Bratislava.

I’ll skip August as I didn’t do much because all my friends went back home and I was just preparing for my own Erasmus in Granada, Spain. So in September started new era in my life. Most of if was just exploring the new city but also started traveling to near places – like Malaga.

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October was full of traveling – Jaén, Ronda, Córdoba. Also more of the city exploring.

In November I discovered the sunsets of Granada. The most beautiful thing there. Also traveled to Alcala la real and Montefrio.

The last month – December. I started it with a long trip to Huleva, Cadiz and Sevilla. Then as every year I had birthday, even though it was different this year. After birthday I was ready for the really long travel, which was first to Madrid and then to El Paso, Texas, USA! And the end of the year I have been here, relaxing and enjoying the holidays.

So I wish everyone a better New Year and I hope it will be a blast!

Holidays

Because of my traveling I get to see a lot of different places during holiday season. I am so glad to have this opportunity to travel so much right now and experience holidays all around the world. Especially to be in America for this time. It has always been my dream to see Christmas here and even though it is semi-american in El Paso then I just love those lights however over-exaggerated they are.

Christmas tree in Cádiz

Christmas tree in Granada on Plaza Bib-Rambla

Christmas tree in Madrid on Plaza del Sol

Holiday lights in the neighborhood in El Paso

Christmas tree at home in El Paso

Trip to West-Andalusia: Day 3

In this hostel I couldn’t sleep so well because it was hot in the room. And one of the girls closed the windows before going to sleep. But I still like the decoration and high-tech stuff there. And the beds were really good actually.

I also got the map from the reception again but this time it was really confusing map. At one point I even got lost and it was really hard to navigate. I started my day from the Cathedral as it was right next to my hostel. Even in 11 o’clock the streets were quite full of people. I didn’t go inside the cathedral but it was huge! And the line to get in was really really long.

Most of the day I was in the parks because they were just so amazing and the whole corner of the city was just full of parks. The most amazing thing about Sevilla is Plaza de España which is located in Parque María Luisa. It has a huge pavilion building around the plaza and it took me around 15 minutes to walk it through. In the bottom are little corners dedicated to every province of Spain with a pictures and colorful tiles. Also you can get a boat and do a round on the little water area around the plaza.

In the park I was probably around 2 hours. It was just huge and beautiful and I can’t even imagine how much more beautiful it would be in spring. It also had a little island just for birds. I don’t know how they stay around the area but it is quite cool.

On the way to find something to eat I passed the University and I wouldn’t mind studying and going to school this building every day. It is beautiful. The place I ate was called Gorki and it is definitely more Spanish kind of place – the food had too much oil. And they had 3 waiters but it seemed that they can’t manage the whole room by themselves.

 

After nice meal I went to see the city from Torre del Oro. It was quite high but the view was still nice. Because I was back in the city center then I planned to go to see Real Alcázar de Sevilla, but they closed the doors right in front of us. So I went to Alameda de Hércules which is a garden square or mall. I would call it also a park. There was a lot of sellers and also exhibitions with photos.

On the way back to hostel I got lost because I wanted to see some other churches on the way and the map was just too confusing. Also by this time all the streets were just full of people. So I just got stuck behind them all the time.

The funny thing about Sevilla is how people use horses as transport. I get if it was in the park or off the big streets but they are everywhere. It is funny to see on the street – car, car, horse, horse, car, horse.

In general, on the third day I was quite tired. I wanted to sleep all day but somehow I just kept going. My last ride, Sevilla – Granada, was the first one ever to be ready to pick us up before the actual time. It is not common in Spain. Seville is really pretty but huge and definitely too overcrowded for me.

Trip to West-Andalusia: Day 2

I had a really good sleep in the hostel and spend my time there until the last moment. I took time to make spots on the map I got, so I don’t have to use my phone for directions and be without it when I get to the next place. I wanted to have churros for breakfast but the place they suggested was closed by 12, so I just bought some pastries from random store. But they were so good!! I ate them in Plaza España and then started my tourist day right there.

Cádiz is quite small and surrounded by the sea. I just fell in love with it in the first minute, I think. After the plaza, I walked on the city wall next to the ocean and just enjoyed the sound of the waves and warm sun touching my face. At some point I was even without my coat and just sweating because it was so warm! Like summer all over again.

Because of the holiday and siesta time, most public spaces were quite crowded but not too much. People were out with families, having drink, kids playing with other kids and just enjoying the lovely Sunday. When I got back to the Cathedral I started walking across the ocean again and also just enjoying myself being there.

When I got to Puertas de Tierra, then I dicovered that it is not popular to go there at all. I was the only one walking on the walls and watching the views there. This wall also kind of seperates the newer part of the city. Because on the other side of the wall it is more just places to live. I ended my tourist round at the beach, writing postcards and enjoying the sunset. Also on the last moment I went to see Castillo de San Sebastián. Only a little road took there.

I have to say that this is the city everyone should definitely visit during their lifetime. It is in my favourites cities list – with all the warmth, ocean and really nice welcoming people.

After half an hour charging my phone, I got another BlaBlaCar to get to Sevilla for the night and the next day. It was around 9pm when I was walking to my hostel and people were just partying on the streets. It definitely looked like it is a holiday in Spain! My hostel was quite next to Cathedral which was really convenient. And it was quite high-tech. No key-cards and automatic lights in the room. Instead of the key-card you give your fingerprint and you can access your room with that. Quite good if you want to go out at night and should get too wasted or be quite prone to lose things.

Overall, the day was super good and totally worth the travel I had the day before. There is also video coming one day about my trip, my it is taking too much time to edit it and I am just learning the program to edit it.

Trip to West-Andalusia: Day 1

Because of the long weekend we get thanks to Spanish holidays (Constitution day 6.12 & Immaculate Conception 8.12), I decided to see some more far away cities. So my trip was to Cádiz, Huelva and Sevilla. So let’s start from the first day.

I woke up really early because I planned to get to Cadiz or Huelva by BlaBlaCar (getting ride with people who have a free seat in the car, similar to Lyft, Uber or Hopp in Estonia). But the ride I tried to book didn’t answer so I had to look up alternatives. And I ended up going to Huelva first for few hours. It was 2 Spanish ladies with a pug. I slept half of the way.

Huelva is quite small and really quiet. Because of siesta, most of the stores were closed but there wasn’t any people even on the streets eating or just enjoying themselves. I found this city a bit boring. But at least it was really warm and I could walk around without my coat.

Palacio de Congresos

Iglesia de la Milagrosa

Parque Zafra

Plaza las Monjas

Parroquia Mayor de San Pedro

For the night I had to get to Cadiz, and there was only one ride going. BUT 10 minutes after it was supposed to happen she canceled. So I spent half an hour finding new ride. Which meant I had first get to Sevilla and then from there to Cadiz. The guy who took me to Seville drove with 160 km/h most of the way (the limit is 120). Also I hadn’t eaten all day basically, so I was fighting with the feeling of throwing up all the way to Sevilla.

But I needed to get fast to Seville, so I didn’t want to say anything. I spent half an hour in the bus station  just watching people because my phone was near for dying and I needed it to get to my hostel.

Ride to San Fernando (little city in front of Cadiz) was quite nice, except little accident where one guy almost drove into us and the driver was swearing in Spanish. He was a nice guy who was definitely into heavy metal music according to his style. On the way there my phone died. I didn’t know how to get to Cadiz and it was around 21.

I asked people in the bus stop, they said the bus takes there on the other side of the rode and when one bus came they screamed that I should ask the driver. The bus driver  was really nice and said if I don’t know whereto get off then at least go the last stop because it is just few minute walk away from the right stop. But the thing was that I didn’t know where my hostel was. I remembered a little bit the position on the map, so I started going with my logic. I turned to random streets and when I was almost on the way to random hotel to ask directions, I spotted my hostel sign – CadizInn.

The hostel was small but really nice. The staff who worked were all really happy all the time. In the end of the day I felt that the whole day full of drama to get there was just so worth it! I was exhausted but really happy!

The sunrise of Granada

I am seriously not a sunrise person. I usually can’t get up so early and because it is the coldest hour right before sunset then I just want to stay in my bed where it is warm and cozy.

The other day when we were randomly walking the dog 2am we had brilliant idea to go see the sunrise in 5 hours. So we woke up at 7 something and walked 20 minutes up the Albayzin. It doesn’t give so big color show as sunset but it is still nice to see how city is slowly waking up (even though people are just going to sleep after long party). I wished I had some hot coffee or cocoa with me.

Alhambra

Alhambra is a palace and fortress complex in Granada. It is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Spain. So visiting it was only question of time. Now it is done.

It is amazingly beautiful and huge. I never imagined it was so big. And one day I will come back here to visit it in Spring/Summer time when everything in the gardens are blooming. I can only imagine how much more beautiful it will be. So here are some pictures in Alhambra:

Generalife

Patio de los Arrayanes

ERA

El Partal

The Court of la Acequia

Palace of Charles V

View from Alhambra

Sunsets of Granada

Over the last few weeks I’ve gone to see the sunset 4 times. 3 of them near Ermita de San Miguel el Alto and for the last one I went for a hike to Llano de la Perdiz. You probably already know that sunset is one of my most favourite things.

1) So the first place is really easy to reach. From the city center it takes around 30 minutes to get through the Albayzin. It is all up to the hill but the moment you see the view you forget how out of breath you felt before. You can enjoy the view with random people on the old building’s terrace or stay a bit more down, sit on a grass and enjoy your own company (alone, with friends or with your other half).

If you’re not in the hurry then enjoy the view also after the sunset to see the sky getting darker in every minute and city turning on the lights. It is especially good view to Alhambra.

Whiskey enjoying the sunset

Alhambra

2) Llano de la Perdiz – mostly visited by bikers and easily accessed by car. I have none of them so I decided to hike up there. And probably I was the only one. Although on the way back I saw a big group who looked like hikers.

So the hike up there took me about an hour and a half. Could have gone faster but I enjoyed the views and in the end I was looking for a good place for the sunset. I found a place near suggested place that showed on a map on the place. I climbed a bit down the hill and had privacy to enjoy my own company and sunset. And I have to say that from this point the sun looked huge!

Only thing is that I forgot how fast it gets dark after sunset. So most of the way back I was walking in darkness. I could see a bit but it was a little scary.

PS. I made a Facebook page for my blog. Follow me: Manna Rules the World

Alcalá la Real & Montefrío

So this week I went on a trip with Erasmus Friends. First organized trip in Spain! And if I say organized I mean we know what we are doing, where we should be by what time and we actually get some history about the places. Same time it was super chill. We had time to relax but at the same time we saw everything we needed to see.

So both of those cities are really small. One of them is located in the province of Jaén and other one in the province of Granada. Bus ride was fast and our first stop was Forteleza La Mota in Alcalá la Real. Most of it had been destroyed during different times and wars. So only few building were still up. We got a little history video in the destroyed church. All the old walls and building foundations were there to see how the fortress looked like. The views were great and you could see the whole city from there.

After a nice history visit we went to get our lunch. We went to this really nice place called El Lagar de Los Vinos. It is an old winery turned into a bar and had machines all over the place. Also had big barrels which are storing the annual harvest. So we had some really good quality wine, cheese, 4-different hams, olives, chips and potatoes with mayo. I really recommend going there if you ever should visit this little city.

So feeling all siesta after a good meal we visited a local museum and took off to Montefrío. This city is even smaller. With 10 minutes we were on top of the hill to see the church/castle Iglesia de la Villa and had a really nice view to the whole city.

Our last stop was Mirador de Montefrío where we could watch all the colors of sunset on the city while listening to some guitar music by one of the organizers.

It is crazy how big temperature difference there is between the day and night. In the daytime I could walk with only my t-shirt but at night I needed a hoodie and a leather jacket to keep myself warm. Really unusual in November for me. I could go sunbathing in November here.

Strolls around Granada

All the cities of Spain are just breathtakingly beautiful -white houses, old structures, small street and views from some higher point. Granada is full of beauty and everywhere you can find something to look at. So at some days I just try to go to places I haven’t been yet to discover more of its beauty.

So on Monday I dragged girls to the Granada cemetery with me. Because of the Día de todos los Santos locals go there to put flowers on the graves and it has a lot of sculptures. It is full of history.

On the way back we went up from random stairs and it turned out to be some kind of garden of olive trees. Really random place for just a really good view to the mountains and the nature.

And one other day I went to discover what is going on up on the hill where I’ve always seen people. I wasn’t even thinking when I started going but it was the time for sunset. So by the time I got up there it was one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen. And I love sunsets!