My first meeting with Spain

by MintStories Monday, June 25, 2018

This post is also available in: Bulgarian

Spain, it’s been almost a month since the first time I met her and we definitely realized that we were soulmates, even now I miss her. I saw both sides, one was Barcelona, so lively, vibrant and crazy that it tired you at times of overly beautiful views, interesting stories and people. Everywhere there’re so many people, it even reminded me of London shortly before Christmas and it wasn’t even in its busiest season yet! There is a charm in that, of course, but I wouldn’t say that I could spend everyday like that, at one point it gets suffocating. I managed to see the other side, the quieter, cute and mysterious – Calella, a beautiful seaside town 58 km. northeast from Barcelona in Catalonia. Well, that place has really fascinated me and made me fall in love with Spain. You can carelessly lie all day on the beach and collect sun rays while listening to the nice music from the nearby beachfront bar with Sangria, to spend the day with sport (there are so perfect conditions for that, which really surprised me, we were on yoga camp exactly right here, see my sport posts from Spain – part 1 and part 2 if you haven’t yet), or take a few excursions to local attractions by boat, car or train (the neighboring coastal towns are interesting – Malgrat de Mar, Blanes, Sant Pol de Mar and others, there are many botanical gardens with stunning views – I recommend you see The Botanical Garden of Costa Brava – Marimurtra, but you must visit at least one of the fishing towns to try delicious and fresh fish) and Calella itself combines ancient neighborhoods with unique architecture, ancient Spanish mosaic, but also modern hotels, shops and restaurants that are in the spirit of everything else.

For the first time I went on an organized trip with a travel agency, usually everything I do, I do myself, from the airline tickets to the hotel and the places to visit, I like to organize our trips in general, it’s not so difficult for me, it even is the most pleasant part of the whole process for me, I learn so much about the place before I even see it. And honestly, I wouldn’t do it again, counting on an organized excursion from someone else or agency because there were some “sweet” disagreements like our room was originally without a window, so tight that it was depressing and we had to pay extra if we wanted a nicer room with a window or a terrace with a view (about 140 euros for our entire stay, the whole excursion was all 400 euros with air tickets, breakfast and dinner), we weren’t warned for that, weren’t given a choice to what room we want before we left, part of the group had a later flight than us and they weren’t warned and other things that maybe wouldn’t annoy other people, but it made me nervous. I certainly don’t like the lack of control and the fact that I know I can do it better and in the way that I want and like. Maybe I’ve traveled a lot and it’s not difficult for me to prepare everything and not to rely on anyone else. Anyway, the bad things for me are sure forgotten so quickly, only my loving memories have remained, like the little typical Spanish vault in Calella with so many stories and a small marble table of an old sewing machine that someone has ever created, what a beauty… One sweet grandfather was so pleased and happy to see me shooting, that he unlocked the left door and called his lovely wife to see what was going on at their entrance. If we spoke the same language we could say so much, but I don’t understand Spanish and they have no idea about English, we only left with the smiles on our faces and the emotions. I love this sunny Spain!

I don’t know how it was possible for me to be so productive there, to finish more tasks from a distance and to train twice a day and to be such a chaos in Sofia. Perhaps the secret is in the workplace with a bonus sea view, the sound of the waves and the song of the strange birds that look very much like parrots, the terribly delicious fruits and the fresh aromatic lemons in the company of the most refreshing drink for every summer – gin, which is also among the most low-calorie drinks. So without much, much guilt!

Soon I’m thinking of going back to Spain, I want to show it to Kalo (I was on the first trip without him and all the pictures were done by my mom <3) as I saw it and felt because I know that he will fall in love and there is so much to see. I can’t wait!