This Saturday kicks off "Spring Break" all over Spain: next week is Semana Santa, Holy Week (2011 flashback), and the following week is just added Spanish bonus. Seeing that this will be my last Semana Santa, I figured I really had to take advantage of the two weeks off (and full month's pay--there are some things I will forever miss about this country).
After being in Spain for a year and a half, I've realized that I have only seen half of it. Now that sounds like I'm being a little spoiled complaining that I've only seen half of a Mediterranean country, but I can't say that I "know" Spain well if I've hardly been north of Madrid (Barcelona doesn't count here). Yes, I'm familiar with the "traditional" sizzling, flamenco-dancing, tapa-indulging, sangria guzzling southern culture. But up north the cultures are very distinct. It's quite different than what one typically imagines when they think of Spain.
According to numerous travel sites and travelers' accounts, in the North it's a different Spain from what I know.
Instead of seeing drier landscapes like this...
...you see this.
And instead of eating tapas like this...
...you eat this.
And instead of saying words like this...
...you say this.
On Friday Craig and I will embark on a gran viaje to get a taste of northern life. We're heading to regions of: Castilla y León, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarra, and Aragón. We're going up to Madrid to rent a car, and form there we'll hit up six cities in six days. Here's the planned route:
(Then when we return to Madrid, we're flying to Craig's home-island Jersey for the following week. More details, photos, and posts to follow.)
I won't have regular Internet access, but I'll do my best to try to post pictures throughout the trip. See on the carretera!
My advice to a guiri: Take advantage of your Semana Santa and visit an unknown part of Spain.
After being in Spain for a year and a half, I've realized that I have only seen half of it. Now that sounds like I'm being a little spoiled complaining that I've only seen half of a Mediterranean country, but I can't say that I "know" Spain well if I've hardly been north of Madrid (Barcelona doesn't count here). Yes, I'm familiar with the "traditional" sizzling, flamenco-dancing, tapa-indulging, sangria guzzling southern culture. But up north the cultures are very distinct. It's quite different than what one typically imagines when they think of Spain.
According to numerous travel sites and travelers' accounts, in the North it's a different Spain from what I know.
Instead of seeing drier landscapes like this...
 |
| Murcia (it's a lot prettier than this...I'm just not a professional photographer) |
...you see this.
 |
| Asturias source |
And instead of eating tapas like this...
 |
| Murcian marineras |
...you eat this.
 |
| Basque pintxos source |
And instead of saying words like this...
 |
| castellano |
...you say this.
 |
| euskera spoken in the Basque Country |
On Friday Craig and I will embark on a gran viaje to get a taste of northern life. We're heading to regions of: Castilla y León, Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country, Navarra, and Aragón. We're going up to Madrid to rent a car, and form there we'll hit up six cities in six days. Here's the planned route:
 |
| Valladolid, Ovideo, Santander, Bilbao, Pamplona, Zaragoza |
(Then when we return to Madrid, we're flying to Craig's home-island Jersey for the following week. More details, photos, and posts to follow.)
I won't have regular Internet access, but I'll do my best to try to post pictures throughout the trip. See on the carretera!
My advice to a guiri: Take advantage of your Semana Santa and visit an unknown part of Spain.
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