I get a kick out of things I see on the internet, the title of this entry being one of those things. I could spend a few minutes typing out a grammatically stunted entry of uselessness about one of many trips I took to Geneva when I was ten, but what’s the fun in that? And thus, I will never call this a “travel blog”. I travel a lot, but not even close to enough to constitute that title. A lifestyle blog seems more fitting. Random thought for your Friday afternoon.
Another point before I move on: proofreading. You need to proofread. We ALL need to proofread. 9 times out of 10, I will stop reading something if it’s chock full of grammatical errors or word vomit (especially giving definitions to things that are universally recognized…I don’t need to be told what a “holiday” is, etc.). Please stop, kids. Take a moment to read things through.
PHEW. Ok. English majors can only handle so much! I shall digress.
I need to make a post dealing with everything that has been going on emotionally for me, but I think something more positive is better to start with after such a long hiatus. What could be better than a girls trip to Spain?
Hellooooooo, Spain!
9 of us embarked out of Frankfurt Hahn in the early hours of the morning on a windy, freezing Saturday. Jen came the night before to spend the night at my house; we stayed up a little bit too late and then I couldn’t sleep and wound up running on 3.5 hours of sleep for the whole first day in Spain. Alle ist gut, though! Eric stocked the fridge with Red Bull for me. Good husband.
Sooooo delicious. Feed me more!
The flight into Malaga was seamless and quick; we were all spread out on the plane, which made it interesting. My highlight was listening to drunk Lynde telling stories to her seatmates and then finishing the flight with “WOO! PARTY TIME!!!”…at 10am. Once at the airport, our shuttle picked us up right away and got us to the villa faster than you can say “mas sangria por favor”! We immediately started drinking more, eating baguettes with chorizo and cheese, making sangria; it was fabulous. We sat out on the upper deck right over the ocean and watched the sailboats zip around while we soaked in the sun. My lips are totally sunburnt as a result of the first day. It was worth it! That night we went to a flamenco show with unlimited drinks (we purchased our tickets in advance a few weeks before the trip). It was absolutely stunning, and the drinks were yummy and served quickly. The music was beautiful and so organic and honest.
Jen hanging out in the villa!
The next day brought a huge hangover, and thus I spent my entire morning and afternoon laying out on the porch with tons of water in the sunshine with Jen and Queenie while the rest of the girls went down to the beach for some lunch and exercise. SO relaxing. The sun was bright and hot and the water was calm and soothing to see and and hear. It was perfect. Evening brought homemade pizzas and some girl talk that went beyond honest and raunchy and made me laugh so hard that my sides still hurt. I loved it; it was a perfect night. As the sun was setting, we finally spotted Africa in the distance. What an awesome thing to experience!
The view from our villa at sunset. Breathtaking.
Our adorable tour guide and Hans Christian Andersen. The Ugly Duckling is hanging out in his bag. 🙂
Our final day was probably the best; I went on a bike tour of the city and the beach with Lynde, Whitney, Alysha, and Perry. Our guide was adorable. The city was so beautiful and everything smelled like oranges (orange trees were everywhere!). We had so much fun cycling around. One of the highlights was the market, in the old boatyard; we bought fresh fruits, olives, cashews, and Malaga almonds. YUMMY. Afterward, we explored on foot for a bit, bought some souvenirs, and ate some tapas and lunch with a few pitchers of sangria between the five of us. Nighttime found everyone back at the villa, relaxing and cleaning up.
A gorgeous little side street in the courtyard next to the house where Picasso was born.
So what else can I say about the Malaga trip? I’m leaving out so many details, I know, but it was the most relaxing trip I’ve ever had. Nothing compares to sitting on our villa’s balcony in the sun all day, watching the sailboats and parasailers floating by, with Africa in the background and a group of amazing women to keep me company. It was exactly what I needed after everything went wrong last month. I hope to someday go back with Eric. It was definitely nice being on my own for the first time in forever; I missed Eric and Teddy so much (I teared up as the plane was taking off from Frankfurt), but I was able to Skype with them and message via facebook. It was hard to sleep without the drone of the monitor in the background, but nice to wake up and only worry about myself while sipping my coffee. And now that I’ve ripped off the bandaid and done it? I can’t wait to do it again!
Raspberries in champagne on our last night. Salud, Malaga!
Arctophobic 