Last Week in España

So it's my last week in Spain until the christmas holidays! I can't believe it! My summer has been so incredibly long (four months!), yet it seemed to fly by! I've been so busy these past four months, and i've had such an amazing summer, and these last three weeks in Spain have been the perfect end to my holiday.

I had a really nice, relaxed night on friday. I went out to dinner with Chloe (my sister) and two of her friends. We went to a really cosy italian restaurant in Soto Grande. It was by a port so it was really pretty, by the water and boats.

My beautiful sister by the port.

Yacke and Emii. The restaurant gave us blankets (as you can see on their laps) because we were sitting outside and it was relatively windy. How sweet ^^ All restaurants should offer comfy blankets!

I love Soto Grande, I find it really pretty. I came here for dinner with Logan in January, and we tried to cross the beach, from one side to the other... in complete darkness. Well, me being a wuss, we only got half way because I was grabbing onto his arm like a little girl, terrified of being eaten alive by a wild dog, or some kind of nighttime beach monster ^^

Photo credits to Chloe ^^

Chloe and I taking selfies... the usual sisterly shenanigans ^^

Saturday, I went to Algeciras with my family to do some shopping. I took some photos in the square where we stopped to have tapas. It was really colourful, and very 'spanish looking', so I felt the need to take some photos haha ^^

Tapas for lunch again, yay! This dish is called boquerones en vinagre (anchovies in vinegar). I love anchovies, but I actually wasn't that keen on these ones, because the vinegar was too overpowering.

This dish is called ensalada russa (russian salad), and it's one of my favourite tapas dishes. I love potato salads!

This dish is called patatas bravas. It's just potato chunks sprinkled in a sauce... it's good!

After lunch we headed to a shopping mall, which I don't think i've been to before, maybe when I was little... but I don't remember. Anyway, it was a really great mall, but I only managed to go into some shops due to lack of time. BOO! However, I did manage to buy myself yet another pair of boots! Oops. I now officially own seven pairs of boots... don't ask me how it happened... because I honestly don't know how. Well, actually yes I do, they were so pretty, I couldn't NOT get them!? I bought them in a store called Marypaz, this store is everywhere here! And everytime I go in I want to buy something. My sister bought me these really nice shoes for my birthday from there that I had had my eye on, I still haven't worn them yet though because i'd probably break my neck wearing them in rainy Wales, on a drunken night out walking up and down slippery hills! Eek, no thank you! I might give them a go this winter though, as long a taxi ride instead of walking is guaranteed! ^^

After my guilty purchase, we had coffee and dohnuts at a cafe called Duffin Dagles, which is pretty much the same as Dunkin' Dohnuts... haha ^^

Chloe and our shared dohnut (I totally could have had my own, but I decided against my greed ^^).

Yesterday, I spent the day in the sun, and my family had a BBQ. I'm a sucker for sardines, I absolutely love them, especially grilled. I thought my family and I were the only people on the planet that liked sardines... but apparently not... my bestie Rita loves them too! I've always told her we were soul sisters, and our love for sardines just proves it. Amen. ^^

My gorgeous, gorgeous dog Gizmo! No, Gizmo is not a boy, she is in fact a girl. Because her name isn't very girly, everybody mistakes her for a boy, poor thing! She's my cuddle buddy, my little Gizmo, and i'm going to miss her so much when I go back to the UK! D: She's just a fluffy bundle of joy and she never fails to make me smile ^^

-Alyssa xo

Silver Lining

I had a really lovely day today, even though I didn't do a whole lot... just went out to breakfast at a local Spanish cafe in San Roque with my parents and mis abuelos (grandparents), and then went for tapas at another local restaurant for lunch ^^

I haven't really blogged much about my time in Spain... mostly because as it's home for me now, the places I go just seem average, and I don't think anybody would really be interested. But I realise, looking at my blog audience stats that a lot of you guys live else where in the world, and so perhaps you would be interested to hear about Spain? Spain really is a very beautiful country and has such rich culture that I would love to share a little bit of it with you, even if my days aren't very eventful ^^

I often feel that my life is one big adventure, with having lived in four different countries (England- from birth till the age of thirteen, Singapore- from the age of thirteen till eighteen, and now Wales (for university) and Spain - where 'home'  has been since December due to my parents moving here... resulting in me coming 'home' to Spain during my holidays). The friends I made in Singapore can all relate to this, as they also have lived in various countries. Our conversations often consist of sharing our feelings towards our live's as 'third culture kids', and similarly we feel that we don't 'belong' anywhere. That it gets so complicated when somebody asks you where your home is! I often get upset over it. Purely because I feel that home is Singapore for me, simply because I spent my adolescent years there and spent the most important of my 'developing' years there. I am the person I am today because of my five years in that beautiful little island, and I miss it incredibly, and still consider it my home.

 However, now, technically I live in Wales, yet my parents live in Spain, and i'm half english (half my family living in England) and half spanish (half my family living in Spain), yet I still consider Singapore to be 'home' even though it's been a whole year since I lived there D: ....do you see how complicated it all is for me!? haha ^^ Anyway, as you can see it does frustrate me a lot, feeling like I don't belong anywhere, and being so confused as to where to call home. However i'm in the process of learning and accepting that maybe yeah... I don't belong anywhere in particular, but instead that I belong in many places. That I have many homes rather than just one... and well when I look at it like that I feel better and I don't feel so 'lost' in the world, but instead, I feel more connected to it. If that makes any sense??? ^^

But anyway, the point I was getting at...

Even though occasionally I do get upset feeling like I don't really belong anywhere, I've always really appreciated the life i've had, all the wonderful places i've lived and all the beautiful places i've been able to visit, all the extraordinary people i've met, and all the incredible memories I have made ♥

I've began to look at my parent's move to Spain as an opportunity for me to greater explore my spanish side, and therefore I intend to make the most of my time here. Unfortunately I don't speak fluent spanish, and i've always hated the fact that I can't! My dad speaks fluent spanish, but as my mum is english, he never spoke to my sister and I in Spanish, and therefore, sadly we don't speak the language fluently. I'm trying to improve my spanish, and, obviously being here pretty much four to six months of the year is helping me achieve that, slowly ^^ Another reason i'm so grateful for my parents' move to Spain is that i'm able to see my family sooo much more than I was able to when I lived all the way in South East Asia. I'm really enjoying spending a lot of time with mis abuelos, and my aunt, uncle and younger cousin ^^

As I am trying to get the most out of my time in Spain, I would really love to blog more about it, and document my time here as best I can, and to share with as many people that are interested! ^^

One of the things I really enjoy about being 'home' in Spain is the many breakfasts that I have out at cute little local cafes ^^ This morning I had a napolitana and a cola cao (a type of hot chocolate that i've had since I was little, and still have every time we go out for breakfast ^^).

The pretty fountain by the cafe. Look at the rainbow created by the water! ^^

Another thing I love about Spain is Tapas! I've always loved tapas, and I have so many fond childhood memories of late night tapas in Spain (when we lived in England, we'd come to our holiday house in Spain every holiday.... our holiday house became our permanent home in December when my parents moved here ^^). The food I had at lunch today was so delicious!  The restaurant's called Gambrinus, and all the dishes we shared were fish (because I don't eat other meat).

I think the first dish we had was called Gazón al adobo?? Not entirely sure of the spelling because I didn't check the menu. But anyway, no matter the name... it was delicious! ^^

The second dish was called chipirones a la plancha con cebollita (grilled squid with onions). Again, it tasted really good. However, it did still seem to have some sand left on it! Shows just how fresh out of the sea it was, haha ^^

I love this dish, and have had it before. Logan also loved it when he visited Spain in the winter holiday, I look forward to taking him to have it again when he visits for the second time (hopefully this coming winter...fingers crossed!) It's called pisto con huevo de codorniz (ratatouille with quail eggs).

So as you can see i've been enjoying the food here in España! ^^ I'll certainly be savouring it before I have to go back to the UK. Likewise with the sun! I'm getting the most out of my summer wardrobe whilst I still can! I'm not looking forward to winter, but I am looking forward to being able to wear my new boots! There's always a silver lining! Haha ^^ Just like my move to Spain... although I miss my home in Singapore, I'm enjoying my new home in Spain.

-Alyssa xo