I think I found a new love

the ocean. I've only been to the ocean a handful times in my life, and going to the beach this weekend made me remember how much I love being near the water. Ever since I was little, I've loved swimming, taking in the sun, and just being around the water. I've heard it said that you're either a mountain person or a beach person, and if that's true, I'd be a beach bum all the way. I love the sand in my feet, laying on the beach, soaking sun up all day, swimming in the water, hearing the waves crash, and smelling the salty breeze. Sigh... is it that obvious I love the ocean?

Well, this past weekend, I was in luck! 5 friends and I went back to Cadiz for the weekend. Cadiz is a city in the south of Spain on the Atlantic Ocean. We took the bus from Seville to Cadiz on Friday afternoon. Cadiz is where we went for Carnival a few weeks ago, but we were only there at night, and we wanted to see the city during the day. Friday when we arrived, we checked into our hostel around 5 and it was nice since we booked ahead of time, all 6 of us got to share the same room. We dropped our stuff off, talked to the woman at the reception desk, and she gave us a lot of great recommendations. Of course the first thing we did was go check out the coast line. It was so beautiful. Even though it was raining, I had an amazing time.

Friday night, after walking the coastline for a few hours, we did as the spaniards do, and went out for tapas and drinks. We had dinner, some wine, and then went back to look at the stars over the ocean. It was one of my favorite memories of Spain so far. 

Saturday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, which was provided at the hostel (for 17 euros, a place to sleep and breakfast wasn't too bad), and headed out to explore more. Luckily, we had better weather on Saturday. We walked around the city center, found the market, where they had every type of seafood you could ever want, and it was all fresh! It was so neat to see. Then, of course, we went back to the beach! 

we walked out a ways into the ocean, and the view was unbelievable!

After the morning beach run, we went for lunch, then found a nice plaza in the center of town. We just sat, talked, took in some sun, and had a great afternoon. Soon, it was time to head back. So, of course, we went back to the beach one more time to say goodbye, headed to the bus stop, and came home to Seville. It was a great trip, and I can't wait until we go back to the ocean again.

I loved the ocean so much, it may be just enough to make me move where there's a beach someday!

Just an update on a few of trips I have coming up in my time here:

March 8-11 Barcelona

March 22-25 Madrid, Toledo, Avila, Segovia (with my parents, huzzah!)

April 5-7 Lagos, Portugal

April 15-19 Marrakech, Morocco

May 11-14 Dublin, Ireland

and who knows where else my travels may take me!

Adios for now