This weekend, while our friends back home were celebrating Mardi Gras, about 40 SLU students and a total of five coach buses of college students traveled down to Cadiz for Carnival. There is a company called Europeanvibe that runs a number of trips during the semester so we went through them. We left Friday morning with a long seven hour bus ride ahead of us. The weather was pretty crummy here in Madrid so we were hoping that Southern Spain was a little warmer and rain free. We made two stops on what was a pretty uneventful bus ride, but the closer we got, the more excited we became! We knew we were going to be staying somewhere nicer than the usual hostel, but I don't think any of us were ready for the four star hotel we stayed in. Nice pool, full kitchen, full breakfast buffet, and a 10 minute walk from the beach are just some of the things we were spoiled with. As soon as we were checked in and had our bags in the room we went straight to the pool. The weather turned out to be a lot nicer than Madrid, but it was still very windy and a little chilly. The pool time was followed by a trip to the grocery store to pick up food for the weekend. I'm sure you can imagine the chaos that ensued in the store with hundreds of hungry college kids buying everything the was cheap and easy to make. My roommates and I made Spaghetti Bolognese! After dinner it was nice to relax and hang out somewhere other than a bus. That night we all walked over to a bar nearby for a lot of dancing and singing! The next morning we got an early breakfast which really hit the spot. Of course we took every kind of food in sight, because it rare that we get to have a breakfast buffet. We spent the afternoon at the beach and by the pool. The water was freezing, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go swimming in the Mediterranean. The bus was leaving at 5:30 to take us into the city, so we had an early dinner and got into out costumes, which were all pretty impressive. My friend and I were Hula dancers, coconut bras and all, three of my other friends got cyclist uniforms to wear, cats, and other costumes. The actual Carnival scene in the city was unbelievable. There were hundreds of thousands of people all over. You couldn't go down a side street without having to weave in and out of crowds. There were people in masks, bands left and right singing songs about every possible topic, jugglers, mimes, and so much more. You couldn't help but keep your head on a swivel so you don't miss anything. Of course though, with that many people my friends and I went different ways and got a little lost, but we all made it back to the hotel eventually. Once we got back we went down to the beach to hang out, but none of us were willing to go in this time. Finally, we called it a night and went back to our rooms to sleep a little before breakfast. Sunday consisted of hanging out by the pool again while we waited for the bus to leave around 2. We were supposed to get back around 9, but the motor caught fire (right underneath me since I was in the back) and we were stranded at a rest stop for about four hours while we waited for them to send us a new bus to take us back. The delay was pretty frustrating, but we made it back eventually around 2:30 AM. Overall, the weekend was a ton of fun! It was quite different from my Morocco trip, and I think the fact that my trips are so different from one another makes me appreciate them that much more. Joe's friend is in this week so were going to try and show him a good time and will probably make a day trip somewhere Friday and Saturday. A couple options are Toledo or El Escorial so I'm looking forward to those! Over and out...
7 hour bus ride from Madrid to Cadiz
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