2 Weekends, 3 destinations, Many Memories

So the past two weekends I was lucky to get to travel. The last weekend in March I went to the small town, Cabeza del Buey, where my friend Cheri lives. Myself, Justin, and Nick went together to spend a tranquilo weekend in the "Ox's Head". While we were there we took a little hike up the mountain next to Cheri's town. We walked up a path called the "Sierra del Calvario" which guides hikers by posting 14 crosses along the way. Once we got to the summit, the view was wonderful.

Here is a view of Cabeza del Buey from the summit:

This is another view from the summit. That little chapel is the end point of the "Sierra del Calvario" hike.

After hiking back down, we made delicious fajitas at Cheri's house.

This is a picture of Justin, Cheri, and I infront of the cross in the center of town.

Here is a beautiful view of the countryside surrounding Cabeza del Buey.

I really love seeing the small towns of Extremadura. You get a sense of the real life of Spaniards. Plus the countryside is stunning this time of year.

Now on to this past weekend; the first weekend in May. There was a "Feria de Queso" (Cheese festival) in Trujillo, Spain. I had been to Trujillo twice before (the first time barely counting), but I decided that I could not miss the cheese festival! (plus I wanted to go to Guadalupe and I had to connect thru there anyway). I ate soooo much cheese and I got soooo full! But it was delicious!! I tried so many different kinds. Some better than others. I tried cheese desserts and cured cheese and fresh cheese. In this picture I'm eating Requeso cheese. Its like fresh cheese, very light and soft. It had marmelade on top, so its kind of desserty. I tried lots of cured sheep's cheese because I was trying to find some that I really liked. Because I had been having trouble finding good sheeps cheese in the grocery store. And luckily after 3 or 4 samples, I found one I really liked that wasn't too expensive. Oh, also, you had to pay for samples. Which was kind of lame, but Spanish cheese is really expensive, so I guess they had to help out with the prices.

Before and after cheese tasting, we walked around Trujillo. (I went with two other american girls who live in the next town over from Don Benito) Because this was the third time, I did a little more exploring into different areas and I got to see some beautiful ruins of churches.

I said goodbye to Caroline and Becca at 1:00, because they were going back to Villanueva/Don Benito. So, I was on my own for the rest of the trip. After siteseeing/wandering and Cheese festival-ing I went to the bus station to catch the 2:15pm bus to Guadalupe and then something happened that has never happened before. The bus was full! And they would not let 4 of us on. I was one of those 4. Sooo, luckily there was another bus to Guadalupe at 6:15. So I just had to wait another 4 hours. Thus, I went back into Trujillo and wandered around and hiked around the hill the castle is on. So it wasnt a compete loss. And then when 6:15 rolled around, there were enough seats on the bus. Whew! The reason the bus was so full before was because one of the main bus companies that run in Extremadura is striking currently, but not a complete strike. They are running "servicio minimo" (minimal service). So when they normally run 5 buses, they run 2. Thus, all buses were much more full then normal. When I couldn't get on the 2:15 bus I was like this might be a sign that my trip is not going to go well.

But I finally did get to Guadalupe-- 4 hours later than I had planned, but there was still a couple hours of sunlight left when I got there so I got to walk all around and see pretty much everything. Another auxiliar in my same program lives there, Liam. And he showed me around and told me everything about Guadalupe. He was a great tourguide! :) It was great to get to talk and catch up as well.

Here is a view of the famous Monastery in Guadalupe:

This is a picture of me in front of the bridge that was built for a train-- the tracks were never laid. So, now its just a little pedestrian bridge. But lovely just the same.

The next morning I got to take a guided tour of the monastery. Which was pretty impressive. They have amazing paintings-- Goyas, Zubarans, El Grecos. And many beautiful illuminated manuscripts and music books. However, I unfortunately, didnt get to "visit" the virgen of Guadalupe and kiss her platter thing because the tour went long and I had to get on the bus. Too bad! But overall, I was so happy I got to visit the Monastery and Guadalupe in general. It was so beautiful and a wonderful little trip.

We were not allowed to take any pictures inside the monastery nor the church, but we could take pictures of the cloister. This is in mudejar style and probably one of the more beautiful cloisters I have seen in a church/monastery.

So I caught the 11:45am bus to Miajadas after visiting the monastery. The way back down through the mountains and to Miajadas was beautiful. There were fields and fields of wildflowers. I tied to get pictures of them, but none of them turned out too nice. But this one picture might give you an idea:

So, then I arrived in Miajadas at 1:10pm. Plenty of time before the 2:10pm bus to Don Benito. So I took a little walk around miajadas and had a cocacola light and a tapa. Then I got back to the bus station to sit and wait right next to the platform a good 15 minutes early. Ready to get on the bus. 2:10 passes, 2:15, 2:30--- still no bus. One other guy was waiting as well and I asked him if he knew anything about the bus. And he said that it has to come, it always comes. Well once it hit 3:00pm I decided to do some investigating. Now, I knew it was Labor Day in Spain, so I was like well this company could be on the holiday schedule which means that the bus wont come till 9pm. Which is a pain, but atleast it comes. But then I go and make sure, and there is a sign saying that the company will be running NO buses because its Labor Day. So, then I check the other company (the one on strike) and of course the buses that would have gone to Don Benito were cancelled. So I asked the guy who works there if there were any buses at anytime going to Don Benito that day and he said "not one" (but in spanish ofcourse). So, here i was stranded in the small town of Miajadas that is only 20 kms from Don Benito. I was so close! But 20kms was not possible walking. It was a little too far. I could have 10-12 kms, but 20 was pushing it. And I would have been walking on the highway-- a little dangerous. So I started calling/texting people to see if anyone could come and rescue me. :) I contacted probably 10 or 12 people. Finally one of my teachers called me back and said she would gladly come and pick me up. Yay!! Saved! Once she picked me up, we ended up driving out in the country to go hunt down the horseback riding place. We drove around alot looking for it and once we found it, it was closed! Too bad! But it was a beautiful day to drive in the country.

So I must say this past weekend was very adventurous. And even with the travel stressors, it was totally worth it. Guadalupe was so beautiful! These weekends and trips make me love Spain so much-- as if I didnt love it already. At the end of every trip Im so happy and content with what I had done and seen... it makes me sad to know that in a month I am going back to the US and probably never returning to live in Spain again. Bittersweet.