So pre-spring break we went with our good friend Gabe to the island of Mallorca. To those who do not know, Mallorca is a small island next to Ibiza off the coast of Spain. The first day that we went it was rainy and cloudy so we decided to go across the island to these 20 million years old underground caves named Cuevas Drach.
While waiting for the time of our tour to start we did a little exploring and found this amazing little inlet with this turquoise blue water that amazed all of us. Unanimously decided to come back after our tour. The caves were very cool. There was a feeling of otherworldliness about it with all of the stalactites and stalagmites, the underground lakes and looking around and realizing how everything around us had been around for 20 million years. To close out the hour and a half tour there was a little "concert" which was just 3 classical musicians in a boat playing classical songs while the boat rowed across this underground lake. Afterword they took us on a little ride across the underground lake. It was really a cool experience and a perfect thing to do on the rainy day. Afterword as decided we went back to the cool little inlet and explored. As you can tell by the photos it is a pretty great place and it was very fun to explore it. Despite the rain I think that the calm inlet was almost more beautiful in the storm.
Day 2 in Mallorca brought bright and sunny weather. Perfect to show off the beautiful and unusual colors of the ocean. The turquoise and navy blue splotches of the water fascinated me the entire trip. We all went to explore the cliffs and rocks surrounding S'Arenal, the area where we were staying. It was beautiful. The day we had to leave it was beautiful and sunny but not to worry we had some tapas and drinks on the beach before we left as a last little goodbye to Mallorca. I loved this little island and it was a wonderful island getaway.
Next up: Fallas festival in Valencia
Overall this was our 3rd time to Valencia. We flew into Valencia to come to Spain, we took a mini vacation there in February and then we returned again for Fallas. Fallas is a fire festival where the members of the Valencian community build intricate floats that they burn in big celebrations. Everyone set off lots of fireworks. All of these celebrations culminated the night we were there with a huge fireworks show that rival Disneyland's and we saw them burn a giant float in the shape of a lion that was about 2 or 3 stories tall. It was a great night that was a lot of fun. That wasn't all though because the next morning we were off to Barcelona!
Barcelona was one of the best weekends in Spain that we have had. We were all set to meet up with a friends friends brother expat who lives in Barcelona with his wife. Not really knowing what to expect we opened the door to an apartment in Barcelona and met best friends and new adoptive grandparents. They spoiled us rotten all weekend taking us to delicious dinners, letting us play with their adorable puppies, Mike went golfing with the husband while his wife and I had a girl day. We had a wonderful weekend of companionship and fun while getting to see Barcelona. Despite consistent rainy weather it really was an amazing weekend. We love our new "adoptive grandparents" and cannot wait to see them again when we visit again next weekend. Barcelona is a beautiful place and it was the best experience to be able to meet these wonderful people that I know will always be a part of our lives.
So there is 3 of my amazing trips but don't worry the spring break update will be here very soon! I cannot believe that there already is only exactly one month left until I move out of my host parents house and begin my after-program travels!
