Eurotrip...not really.

Wednesday was Dia de San Patricio, and also Sybil’s birthday, a girl in our group – so we all went out that night after dinner. I tried explaining to Ana and Antonio that we were going out for a birthday and St. Patrick’s day, but since no one knows what St. Patricks day here in Spain is (except the students and people who just want to get drunk), Ana and Antonio thought we had a friend named Patricia. That was a funny conversation.

Friday before dinner I went with Candace and Christin to a bar on Mateos Gago to try “Vino de Naranjas,” which is a wine they make from the orange trees here around this time of year. I liked it, it was really sweet, almost syrupy, and it came in a much smaller glass than a normal wine would, which is good, because I think you would just want to taste this and nothing else.

Then, on Saturday, Juliane, the German girl who has been staying with us for the past month, rented a car for the weekend and had an extra spot in the car if I wanted to go to Cadiz. I was glad to get to ride in a car again, I would never want to drive here, but she could rent a car easily and knows the European cars and roadways, so it was a good opportunity.

We stayed in Cadiz for half of the day. Cadiz is a city on the coast and is possibly the oldest city in Western Europe, it was founded by the Phoenicians in BC. We went to the museum there and saw the famous anthropomorphic sarcophagi. I don’t know if I was supposed to take a picture…but I did.

After the museum we had lunch sitting outside in a plaza. I ordered the menu del dia and enjoyed lentajas (a lentil soup) and paella with some tinto de verano. The meal also came with a dessert and I chose “torta helada con chocolate y nata” (Ice cream cake with whip cream and chocolate. Oh yes.) I also got to try some "salmorejo" a typical Spanish dish. It's a cold, thick soup, kind of like gaspacho. I really liked it.

After lunch we saw the cathedral, walked around the coast, and went along the beach. Around 5 we left Cadiz and stopped in Jerez on the way home. Jerez is where Sherry originates, so there’s tons of “bodegas” where they harvest and make the wine and you can take tours and sample them, but we got into town a little too late to have this as an option, even though I imagine it would have been a little too pricy for me anyways. Regardless, I liked what little time we spent in the city, it had cute streets and was a lot bigger than I was expecting.

Upon returning home, I had another interesting authentic Spanish dish to try. Ana had made the typical dish of Semana Santa - torrijas. It's like french toast made with honey and white wine. Sounds strange, but tasted better than you would think.