Sofia Somewhere

Bright and early at 8:30 next morning, we hopped on the bus to Segovia. It was 2.5 hours with a change of bus in Ávila. In our less than half an hour in Ávila it was so cold, so when we reached Segovia, we were happy to be blessed with such sunny weather again. First thing on our agenda was finding the Cathedral since we wanted to catch mass at 12:30. We found it without much difficulty, and since we still had an hour to spare, we decided to have breakfast at the terrace of one of the cafés in Plaza Mayor. We sipped our coffees and ate our tostadas with tomate , all the while taking in the view of the Cathedral. The Cathedral is free to visit on Sundays from 9:30-1:15 (and celebrates mass at 11:00 and 12:30). After hearing mass, we walked around the Cathedral. It was another beautiful one, and again, I was awed by the columns, vaults, and ceilings. The main altar Vaults Windows Ceilings Our next stop was the Real Alcazar . This castle is supposedly one o...

One of Spain's most popular  puentes (long weekend) is the Puente de la Constitución y la Inmaculada . Both days are national holidays with Día de la Constitución (Constitution Day) on the 6th of December and Día de la Inmaculada (Immaculate Conception) on the 8th. Usually, the 7th becomes a day off too and Spaniards get a long weekend. Nice and Lia, two friends from my university in the Philippines who are currently auxiliars in Huelva, told me that they would be going to Salamanca for the puente, so I decided to join them that weekend. I arrived in Salamanca on Saturday morning and Lia and Nice picked me up at the bus station. It was so nice to see familiar Filipino faces! We first had breakfast at Café Real , right at Plaza Mayor. I was surprised at how cheap it was, considering it was in a prime location (€1,60 for a café con leche and a tapa of your choice). With some coffee and food in our stomachs we got right to talking and catching up, and it was non stop laughter an...

Walking the Camino de Santiago and visiting Santiago de Compostela has long been at the top of my travel bucket list. I haven't managed to walk the Camino yet, but a few weekends ago I finally made it to the top city I wanted to visit in Spain: Santiago de Compostela . Back in October I knew I wanted to go someplace new as a birthday trip. As luck would have it, Ryanair had a sale that day from Madrid to Santiago for just €10, so I took that as a sign and booked the flight! (I still had to take the bus to Madrid, but it was overall still cheaper, and flying would allow me more time in Santiago). Bright and early on Friday morning I took the bus to the Madrid airport and caught my flight to Santiago. I landed at around 8am then took the bus into the city. I couldn't check into my hostel yet so I stopped by a café and had a typical Spanish breakfast: coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice, and toast with jamón & tomato spread. Breakfast Afterwards, I checked into my host...