I had a Plan. I had a crazy Plan. I looked on the digital maps on my phone and decided you could go there there and there. I asked my phone to calculate a route and it told me it was 33km. That distance might already seem pretty far by foot but if that's not the case yet, let me tell you the story of this hiking trip... I actually planned on going alone but when I told Dunja about my Plan she decided to join me. The first stage was the hike to "Oferta", one of the few shops opened on Sundays. Oferta is not the real name, we just call it like that, but that's a different story! After equipping ourselves with a bunch of Oranges we started our journey alongside the Rio Pelayos to Guisando, a truly marvelous village higher in the mountains. And the path up there was even more marvelous! Both my hosting Family and our spanish teacher Roland recommended us to walk this way and I can only agree that it is really beautiful. You walk first near the river but then higher and higher up in the valley, always accompanied by the rain-fed Rio. It had rained a lot before and this also led to a couple, or let's say two couples of wet feet because the path decided to transform into a creek, no, a small river! But we had a mission to fulfill and so we climbed higher and higher, from Guisando towards El Arenal. On our way we had quite some views, at one spot you could see Arenas, El Hornillo and El Arenal! But that was not the only thing we discovered. The weekend before there were firetrucks passing by the road in front of our house and several helicopters flying above our house, delivering water to what looked like a fire, further down the valley. And indeed we walked by an area with burnt trees between El Hornillo and El Arenal. Making our way higher up into the mountains, although there were no clouds at all above us, it started to rain a little bit and after some time, out of nowhere, it started to snow. And even if you know Dunja and me and our reactions towards snow you still cannot imagine how we freaked out (in a positive way). It was something really magical because there was sun, no clouds, so warm that you could walk around in a T-shirt and yet it would snow on you! To make the wonder complete, a rainbow appeared in front of us and we were just at a cliff so we could see the end of it in the valley below us! But every wonder has its price. Dunja needed to be home by the afternoon because she had an appointment to go to the cinema with her hosting family. That meant that we had only six hours for all that way. But because we went at a pace that I asked myself various times why nature gave me these short legs compared to Dunjas, we made it just in time back home. But still, every single step of these 33000 meters through the nature of the Gredos opened up another world to us, worlds we had not discovered for more than three months.
So if you're in Arenas and get the chance to go for a hike there is no question if I would recommend it or not! But maybe get up half an hour earlier so that you have more time to sit down at some spots to enjoy the region from its best side! Let's talk about Christmas holidays!Arne: When people asked me during my first months in Arenas if I'd visit my family for Christmas I always said no. But at one moment in November I just got the spontaneous thought that it maybe might not be a bad idea to go to Germany to see my family and friends etc. So I decided to start my Journey to my hometown Essen on the 16th of December so that I could participate in the christmas concert of my Orchestra the next day. When people asked me during my first months in Arenas if I'd visit my family for Christmas I always said no. But at one moment in November I just got the spontaneous thought that it maybe might not be a bad idea to go to Germany to see my family and friends etc. So I decided to start my Journey to my hometown Essen on the 16th of December so that I could participate in the christmas concert of my Orchestra the next day. Dunja: For the Christmas holidays I didn't go back home to my country. I celebrate Christmas on different dates as Spanish people so this year I have had two Christmas. First one on 24-25th of December I celebrated with Irina in Monia's house with her family. Iryna: Also we said "Hallo" to Arne and his family via skype. We were always in contact even we were far away from each other. I remeber, when we recieved messages at 4am from Arne, knowing that he had party:D Dunja: We were cooking and preparing food all day and in the evening with the appearance of first stars we had dinner and there was a lot of food so it had to be eaten for few days. Dunja: After the dinner we played a game where at the end we all get presents. Meeting up with friends on Christmas eve is not a traditional thing but when those friends are like your family then it's okay. :) Iryna: We want to say "thank you" to Monia once again. Thas was my first celebrating of Christmas out of the home, and I didn't feel alone even for a while! Dunja: Than in the night we went to a friend's house and spent more time together playing and enjoying in each other's company. It was one of the best Christmas eve's ever! Arne: When I was in the Bus to Madrid I could see some snow in the mountains and I already felt bad for leaving my new home. Not only, because I would not see many of my spanisch Friends for almost a month but also because I absolutely love snow. When I arrived with my 22kg heavy bag full of spanish Christmas presents (I borrowed a scale from Monia to check if it was exceeding the allowed 23kg), I was picked up at Düsseldorf Airport from my mum and a friend who, thinking along, had the glorious idea of bringing a cold, refreshing drink that you can actually call beer, not the Pißwasser (who gets the reference?) they sell in Spain as Beer. The next days with my Orchestra I had the dose of the good old "Stauder"-Bier I needed and could focus on the coming-up Family ceremonies of Christmas. Like every year we visited our friends and family in Berlin and of course had some nice food. Finally, there was the New Year's Eve Party with my friends, nothing special, but I really needed a good party without Reggaeton! On the 2nd of January my flight back to Madrid was early in the morning, and of course mother nature seemed to find her satisfaction into trolling me. It was snowing the whole night but because my flight was quite early and we were in a bit of a rush, I got the opportunity to enjoy this white magic for not more than maybe five minutes... Anyway, back at Madrid Barajas Airport I met a Belgian group of youngsters, accompanied by ex-volunteer Sara, who were part of my next adventure. Monia was kind enough to offer me a spot at the "Academy of Dreamers", a youth camp in Ciudad Rodrigo with roughly 50 young and fun people from Italy, Belgium, Morocco and, of course Spain. As AJS was the organizer of this exchange. I didn't go as a participant though, I was declared some sort of mixture between Participant and Organizer or leader or at-not-behaving-people-shouter or whatever. I think not only Monia knew what I was. The funky part was, that every participant expected me to know everything about the organizational stuff which I had no idea of obviously because the leaders expected me to be a participant (or so). I've started a three year therapy to defeat this personality disorder and we'll see if I can overcome that trauma. But seriously these eight days were a ton of fun and the amount of sleep I missed due to crazy people making weird noises in the boys' dormitory basically throughout the whole night was reimbursed by all the friends I made. It was actually a really unique experience seeing this kind of camps from a very different perspective. After one month of abscence from Arenas I was honestly pretty happy to be back, although that christmas break did me quite well! Finally there's only left to say that I'm definately pumped to see what kind of adventures 2017 will bring! Dunja: My Christmas present was my boyfriend who came from Serbia to visit me on 25th of December, right on Christmas. He stayed in Spain for almost ten days and in that period we explored Arenas together, he met my Spanish friends and we went to Madrid. For the New year's eve we were on the square Puerta de Sol in Madrid waiting for the bells at midnight to eat 12 grains of grapes which is the Spanish tradition. Normaly people almost choke eating grains but we started accedently a little bit before first bells so we managed to eat everything on time and we survived. When my boyfriend went back to Serbia I went again to Madrid to meet with my friends that I met in Spain in Miranda de Ebro on our arrival training, Mike, Martina and her sister so we went out together. When I came home we had to do some activities with our organization so we prepared the presents for Reyes Magos and gave it to the kids. Iryna: In Ukraine we celebrate Christmas on 7th of January, so after celebrating Christmas in Spain, I went to visit my sister in Italy to spend Christmas also with her. I started my trip on 28th of December from Milan. Than I went to Bologna, that has the oldest university in the world! I stayed there with my friend and on the New Year's Eve we went to Florence, the city is fascinating! We had there international dinner with couchsurfers from Brazil, Portugal, Ukraine and Italy. And It was really interesting to break stereotypes between our countries and get to know even much more! I was also proud of myself, that after learning Spanish I could understand at least something in Italian!:)
On 2nd of January I finally came to my sister. We enjoyed one week together and on 10th of January I already came home to Arenas, getting inspired and ready to new challenges! ;) 1. Visiting Leon on our way to Asturias Thanks to our friends (also EVS volunteers) we had really nice weekend in Leon. Romeo and Marine gave very interesting tour around the city, took us to the best tapas places and showed us great view of the city from the roof in the night. What can we wish better! That was perfect:) 2. Exploring incredible Oviedo Woody Allen once described Oviedo as “…a delicious, exotic, beautiful, clean, lovely, tranquil and pedestrianized city…It’s like it doesn’t belong to this world…as if it did not exist…Oviedo is like a fairytale.” Well, we totally agree! 3. Discovering amazing spot: Monte Naranco Along the way to the top there are a few of the most important historical sites in Asturias – Santa María del Naranco, a church that was originally a palace built around 848, as well as San Miguel de Lillo, a church also built around 848. 4.Trying out the local cider culture Asturias is famous of it's la sidra asturiana. Reaching up to 54 liters a year per person, they drink more cider per capita in Asturias than anywhere else in the world. Also cidra is poured in a very specific way to aerate the cider. It is more than a drink: it's a symbol of regional indentity! Just look at these amazing photos:) 5. Meeting the most friendly people Our Couchsurfing friends, who hosted us in Oviedo for few days, made our trip even more excited! We had a lot of fun hanging out with Andres and his friends, spending hours talking about politics. And they gave us a lot of advices, what to do in the whole Asturias! Nothing speaks more volumes about a place than the kindness and attitude of its locals:) 6. Unexpected Gijon A few minutes from Oviedo there is the Asturias’ largest city Gijon. We definitely need much more time to explore all of the attractions of Gijon. Just one more reason why we have to come back here one day:) 7. Walking along the beach Everyone would be inspired! 8. The best landscapes are definitely here! Its craggy and irregular coast contrasts with the gentle landscape of the interior landscape. Maximum height above sea level is 672 metres. 9. Relaxing time in Valladolid
On our way back to home we stopped in Valladolid for a day , to discover the city and to spend some time with Natascia (the most kindest EVS volunteer from Italy). Sometimes being spontaneous is just what we all need from time to time. To be spontaneous is to be the most relaxed go with the flow and enjoyed the moment at all! On Sunday`s evening we decided to go to Madrid with, lets say, "local blablacar". We started our walking from Casa de Campo. And that the first our photo before drinking coffee:) Next destination -> La Plaza de España It is a square featuring a large fountain and a monument to Cervantes, the great figure of Spanish literature known for writing "Don Quixote". Here we are near the Royal Palace of Madrid. Unfortunately, we didn`t have too much time to visit it, but next time for sure;) Walking through the centre of multiculturalism in Madrid - Lavapiés, that has a higher concetration of immigrants than any other neighbourhood in Madrid. The perfect place to wander and relax on a beautiful day - "en el Retiro park". Trying to make a perfect photo :D Now on plaza de Mayor once again:) Dunja met her old friend from Serbia in Madrid! "Que bien":) And last but not least on our list: The Prado Museum! We love the Prado and quick turn to it:)
After moving to our "la casita" we decided to explore surrondings and go to the mountains. We strarted from the famous "pantano" and little by little we came to El Hornillo. We went through forest and the way was so beautiful! Also we found great place to relax:) And great place to have a picnic! Some photos from empty El Hornillo.
Some days before going on our first trip out of Arenas, Lucy told us that it would be a huge party. In, fact we didn't really know what to expect from an "On-Arrival-Training".
We knew that we were going to meet a few other volunteers but that was pretty much it. Finally, on a very nice Monday back in October, we went in a very un-spanisch time (7 AM) on our Bus to Madrid. We had some sleep on the Bus, wich we, how we found out later, could really use. Our nice Nap on the bus was a bit longer than usual thoguh, which was in this case not a good thing because it was related too a lot of traffic in Madrid. So, whe arrived around 40 minutes late, which means ten minutes before our train to Miranda de Ebro should leave from the other end of Madrid. That meant that we had to buy new tickets and of course, the train we needed to take was some sort of superhyperultraregioexpress, that it would have been faster to go by horse! At least it felt like that! At 2 PM, we passed by Avila. We could've taken the bus to Avila from Arenas at 7:20 and so we could've been there more than 5 hours before, but nevermind. By 6 PM we finally landed at our final destination after eleven hours of travel. At least we had a comfortable seat and electricity in the train, so it was survivable. But still, we could've gone to sleep immediately, but no chance! This evening we had some workshops and, of course, went out to party. We had a phenomenal time in the bar "L'amor nunca muere???", especially with our Swedish friend Mikke. He just said things like "Guys, I just bought 52 bottles of wine and 37.49 bottles of Tequila, anybody wants to drink with me?" I think our love for this bar still has not died, although it was the same music, the same people every night, but it never got boring. The week was not intended to be about only partying, we also did quite some work and learned a lot. We had workshops about everything that has to do with EVS, including: Language classes, information about Spain, information about our home countries, how to handle problems, what we expect, what and how we learn etc, the list has almost no end. And because the programme was so diverse and we had so much fun with our coordinators Elena, Paula, Eva and Santi, it never got any kind of boring. During the evenings, we watched Spanish movies all together and / or went out to "Downtown" Miranda. That our youth hostel looked like a prison from the outside was a very good push-factor for that. Actually, we made very good friends with many nice people. I am writing this right now on the bus to León, where we'll visit Romeo and Juliet (She said her real name is Marina but that must be a mistake in the script). So it was in total a very nice experience, we had a lot of fun and really grew together. But that was not the only thing we took from there. We also discovered the essence of life and brought 11 packages of cookies, but none of the nice looking cups though :(. Thank you for that as well! In October each of volunteers lives with host familly for better integration:) Iryna: A big motivation for going abroad is to immerse yourself in the culture where you will be living. And host family is the best way to do that! My host familly is Sara and her 14 years old son Alvaro. Also they have lovely cat Neo:). Sara is climbing instructor. She is amazing cook and speaks English well. And Alvaro is member of youth group third year now. They made my first month in Spain much more fulfilling and fun! We spent free time together going to Talavera, where we attended one exhibition and had nice walk. Also we met with friends and familly from time to time. Sara has a big family, and it is a pleasure to know them! I am especially very grateful to the youngest teacher of Spanish, you can see him in the photo! I learned a lot with him:) And of course we were climbing:) The best experience of climbing till this time! I am very grateful to have been placed with such a wonderful host family:) Arne: When I arrived in Arenas, there could not have been a warmer welcome. Lucy, Angelines, Beltrán and Gonzalo awaited me a the bus station in Arenas and the first thing Angelines did was showing me Arenas. It was already dark so there was not much to see and she could not really explain what she wanted because of her english skills. But I understood her when she said "Aqui, House Monia!". No English vs. no Spanish led to such an extreme use of our best friend the Google Translator that the poor Indian guy translating probably needed to take some days off. I'm sorry for that! But no matter how hard it was, we always understood each other somehow, even if it was with sign language or french! I cannot express how thankful I am for their effort to make me comfortable. When I had no program in the morning, we sat together the evening before and they spent almost an hour trying to explain me, when I had to walk their dog Tizas to where. It also needs to be mentioned how many people I got to know during this month, just look at the photo. You might be wondering "Who is all that?" I would tell you that this was only a small part of my host family. The ones who shared their shelter with me for the night were only Alfredo, Angelines, Beltrán and Gonzalo, but I became part of a huge family! And not only that, I also became a part of Arenas already. I know where I can go for things I need, I know whom to ask for something. And I know how to play Padel, where to go mountainbiking, for a walk or for the best views of the city. Also I got the possibility to take part in cultural activities that even Monia has not taken part in... And every Friday, I know that there will be a warm meal waiting for me in the house I started to get to know Spain from its real side, where I am always welcome. I really appreciate that! Thank you for your hospitality and I am looking forward to helping you in anything you want me to and spending another month with you in April! Dunja: When I came in Arenas de San Pedro, the first people I met where Monia, our coordinator, and Maiky,my hosting mom. It was really nice to have someone who is waiting for you when you are coming to the city, to the country, where you don't know anybody. My hosting family lives out of the village in a big house with lots of nature around it. In the family take part the mother, Maiky, the father, Miguel, the son, Arturo and the dog, Juan. They are one happy family. For me it was important to feel like I belong there and they made it for sure. We went to a trip to Cuenca together and they helped me intergrate to the comunity by presenting me to their friends and going out with them every time (which was very often:). In this way I really experienced living in a Spanish family realising that at the end we are not that different. I stayed in contact with them and we will have lunch together from time to time.
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