Being a Brit in Brazil: April 2014

After a very busy few weeks juggling the job, the annoying year abroad essays and receiving guests, I am enjoying a week's holiday in Andalusia.

Mama Framboise Tea with the mother and Lucinda

I have travelled a lot around Spain; Galicia and the Basque country in the north, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands in the east and Salamanca in the west, but I have never made it down south. My flatmates are from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a small town near Jerez in the heart of Andalusia, so it seemed the right time to visit this part of the country, a region so different from the affluent north and cosmopolitan Madrid. It's also the first time I am travelling alone. This was met with a few strange looks when I told my flatmates; it seems that doing anything alone just isn't normal in Spain, from eating at restaurants to going shopping, everything is in groups. Obviously I would have preferred to go with someone else but my English friends have gone home for easter and it means I get to be selfish and visit exactly where I want. I have booked sociable-looking hostels so hopefully I will meet people!

On Friday afternoon, once my flatmate had finished work, we piled into the car and began the journey to Seville. 6 hours later we arrived, dropped off one of my flatmates to meet a friend and collected another's dress for the Feria de Abril in a few weeks time. We then continued to my flatmates' parents house in Sanlúcar. The apartment was beautiful and right on the beach. After a delicious supper of salad and seafood we had a much needed early night(by Spanish standards).

I spent yesterday with my tourguides, flatmate Blanca and her boyfriend Carlos. Their tour was amazing, especially as it involved stopping for a Manzanilla(the traditional sherry wine made in Sanlúcar) at every site! In the evening we watched the first of the traditional easter parades that the south of Spain is so famous for, something I feel I am going to be seeing a lot of in the next week!

Blanca and I visiting the beautiful Palacio Posada

Palacio Duques de Medina Sidonia

Solear Manzanilla Sherry

Today, after a quick walk on the beach and goodbyes to my flatmates and their parents, I took the train to Cádiz where I am staying for the next few nights.