ROADTRIP

So my friend Gabriela and I just successfully completed our roadtrip across Spain.  This was the most adventurous and spontaneous thing I think I've ever done in my life, starting with the fact that we booked our hostels the night before we left and planned out our daily activities upon waking up.  Despite this, my trusty Spain guidebook (thanks dad!) was a great help, and we did at least 30 minutes of research on each city we cruised through before exploring the maize of ancient streets winding through each spanish city and pueblo.
We started with a flight to Santander, a large city in northern Spain.  After questioning at least 8 different rental car companies, we finally found one that would give us a car for a reasonable price, and we were on our way! Although not so fast, as I managed to stall the car before even pulling out of the parking lot.  (It was only about my third time driving a stick, but I've been wanting to learn for the longest time, so what better place than Spain? haha not the smartest idea, but I can now drive a stick!!).  We made it to San Sebastian in a little under two hours and spent the evening and next morning exploring there.  San Sebastian is in the Pais Basco, the Basque region of Spain.  It is definitely my all-time favorite city of Spain, every single part of it is gorgeous, an ancient city with a wide river running through the middle into el mar Cantabrico.
From there we drove through Bilbao (also in País Basco) and continued our journey farther west onto Santander, where we spent the night in one of the more sketchy places (this is what happens when you book last minute), but everything ended up well, as all we really needed to do was sleep, shower, and get outta there to explore again!  We spent the next morning wandering the port, cathedral, and streets on the coast of Santander.  We fell in love with the view from the beaches by the Palacio de la Magdalena.
We found our way back to Peggie (our rented Peugeot) and chicken sandwish in hand, ready to his the road again, we were off.  We made stops in the pueblos of San Vicente de la Barquera and Santillana del Mar (where the ancient cave paintings are, but they have stopped tourism into the caves since 2002.. however, we took this opportunity in the rolling green hills of northern hills to make friends with some cows that were roaming the countryside)

San Vicente de la Barquera

Gabriela and I on the hillside of Santillana del Mar

 We then spent a night in Oviedo, the next day there, and headed a little farther north to Avilés, right on the coast, where we spent the night in a nice little surfer's hostel.  We spent a good amount of time on the coast enjoying the fresh air and incredible view, and climbed to the top of the cliffs

(sorry trying to keep this short and avoid listing off activities), but the next day we left bright and early for the drive to the pilgrimage destination of Santiago de Compostela!
Then spent the night in La Coruña on the north west coast of Spain.
Early the next morning we started the six hour drive south to Lisbon, Portugal on my 22nd birthday.  Lisbon was a gorgeous city with a really antique and preserved feel.  You feel like you've gone through a time machine and walked into the past.  Many of the buildings almost appear to have a light dusting over them, which only enhances this atmosphere.  It was a great contrast from Porto, a city farther north that I visited a few weeks before (and had my fair share of Port wine).
For my birthday night, the hostel mom (&cook) baked me and one other birthday girl a great fruit cake, on top of which were candles that I blew out after all of the guests sang "happy birthday" to me in portuguese.  It was a great twist to what I was used to, and Gabriela and I went out later to experience the classic portugeuse guitar "fado".  We made our way to a crowded bar in which we heard a couple of the extremely emotional and beautiful fado.
We woke up in our bunkbeds the next morning so enamored with the beauty, culture, and language of Lisbon that we decided to postpone our last leg of the trip (to Málaga) until after the free walking tour offered through our hostel.  An hour turned into 2, and then 3 and 4.  After getting lost in the ancient streets, buying trinkets in the gypsy market, and having a traditional portuguese lunch, we finally brought ourselves to find Peggie in the parking garage and continue our journey south.
This drive seemed the longest, and we didn't arrive in Málaga (on the very southern tip of Spain) until about 2:30am.  After walking through the beautiful marble streets and finally finding our hostel, I luckily decided to look at my itinerary for the following day.  Upon doing so, I realized that I had to be on a plane to Bratislava, Slovakia in less than 3 hours to meet up with 3 of my other friends to continue the 2nd half of my spring break.
After a slight panic attack, I quickly woke up from my near dream-like state and booked it to the airport.  Have no fear, I made it to Bratislava, and managed to sleep 2 hours in the hostel before my friends arrived to wake me up and head out around the city, as we had less than 12 hours there.
For the rest of my eurotrip my friends Susie, Megan, Travis and I spent two days each in Prague and Vienna.
Sorry folks, more to come on those in the next post.  I'm currently spending my last night in Paris with my family (minus my little brother who I miss dearly!!), and want to spend some more time with them.
Ciao!