Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Spain, Day 7. Anthony goes to Ávila.

Spain, Day 7.

Today was a bittersweet day. Our party of 6 in room 6 had to go our separate ways. Simón and I were heading off to Ávila, the Barcelona girls back home, and the German girls to north of Spain to go back to university. It's crazy we all met only a few days ago. We took our last picture just one table over from where it all began in the Comedor, the dining room. Till we meet again, amigos!

When you have a "hometown" you've always wanted to visit, there's some pressure for it to be good. There's some hype that now it has to live up to. Ávila was definitely worth the trip. The main sight is the castle walls that surround the city. It was just fun mobbing around the town taking tons of pictures. It's higher in the mountains so it's freezing, but we had work to do. We saw everything we needed to in 4 hrs and then sprinted back to the station in time to catch the next bus. There's still some things I didn't see/try but I foresee more brothers/family coming here, so I can finish seeing the city then. Vale?

When I got back to the hostel on my bed there were all these little ripped up pieces of paper. I had no idea what they were. As soon as I started reading them I actually yelled out "nooo waaayyyy!" The Barcelona girls had written little quotes to remind me of our whole trip. English and Spanish words we'd been practicing, funny phrases, things we laughed at or said to each other. The fact that they remembered all those things and then wrote them down, that's the kind of crazy thing I like to do. I remember in Peru I left a note for my Brazilian friends when I left our hostel. But to be on the receiving end of that gesture felt really amazing, actually. It sounds silly, but it's true.
It's the kind of fun but meaningful surprise that will make me smile to think about.

Today definitely felt like the trip is winding down. It's changing from being less about chilling with the people and more about the things to do. I just enjoyed myself at first and now I'm ready to take care of business. I'm starting the think about transitioning home. I'm not ready yet but I will be.

The blog this week has turned into a summary of events and some reflections, but there are tons of more posts I want to write but I haven't been able to flesh it all out. I'm thinking about how this blog will work after I get back. I plan to milk this trip for a lot more posts. There's a lot more to say. This isn't a travel blog. It's a thoughts about life blog, and right now my life thoughts are about this traveling experience.

I'm starting to fall asleep. My body is trying to tell me something. "Duerme duerme!"





1 comment:

  1. I was expecting something about leaving notes in plastic Easter eggs...does that count?

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